The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance highlighted the significant threats posed to national stability by prolonged trade tensions, volatile commodity markets, and ongoing geopolitical instability.

While speaking at the Post-Budget Breakfast in Suva today, Professor Biman Prasad emphasized that the global economic landscape has undergone a dramatic shift, with the current scale and speed of disruptions being unprecedented in recent decades.

He says that while current domestic economic indicators remain stable, vigilance is required due to the evolving international context.

“Could be quite frightening. Although we haven’t seen the impact of the trade war, the tariff war, as yet, the expectation of what might happen if it is not resolved in the shortest possible time can create a lot of uncertainties now.”

Professor Prasad says global sentiment now plays a critical role in domestic behavior.

“If an individual feels that they expect things to worsen, their income to reduce, loss of jobs, they will behave differently today. And that’s how countries do, that’s how businesses do. You all get our intelligence daily to anticipate what might happen.”

Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica says the 2025-2026 budget offers hope through growth, resilience.

“They do have an impact on, you know, the small economies like Fiji, particularly because of our import dependency. So, you know, from that basis, you know, it is a concern. But, you know, in this instance with the current budget, what, you know, the government’s come up with is, you know, sort of some measures to try and address some of those anticipated concerns.”

He adds that the higher spending aims to support infrastructure and health to cushion against downturns while tracking global events.

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