Remittances rise by 18.7% to total $529.3 million in the year to August – RBF

The Reserve Bank of Fiji says remittances, including mobile money transfers, rose by 18.7 percent to total $529.3 million in the year to August.

This is compared to an 8.4 percent growth of $445.8 million in the corresponding period in 2020.

The RBF says larger inflows from personal transfers from overseas to people in Fiji underpin the annual increase in inward remittances.

Funds transferred through the mobile money platform totalled $102.7 million in the first eight months of this year.

Meanwhile the RBF says the relaxation of COVID restrictions yesterday together with plans to reopen Fiji’s international borders in November, is expected to provide much-needed support to the domestic economy in the upcoming months.

It says latest sectoral data also continue to show mixed outcomes, with resource-based sectors performing relatively well.

Output in the timber industry remained strong, evident in the annual growth in pine logs by 88.7 percent, woodchips by 75.1 percent, and mahogany production by 91.8 percent cumulative to August, while a temporarily inoperable sawmill affected sawn timber production by 11.1 percent in the same period.

The RBF says improved efficiency also underpinned the annually higher production of gold by 12.2 percent and sugar by 0.7 percent.