Aerial shot of Suva City.

Fiji’s foreign reserves are adequate at around $3.4 billion as of yesterday.

The Reserve Bank of Fiji in its Economic Review for this month says this foreign reserve is sufficient to cover 5.7 months of retained imports of goods and services.

It adds headline inflation surged to 5.8 percent last month as higher prices were noted across most categories, particularly the food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, housing and utilities, and restaurants and hotels categories.

It states that inflation continues to be driven mainly by supply-side factors.

The review states that economic activity has been healthy despite persistent headwinds.

They continue to thrive in the tourism sector while strong remittances and resilient domestic demand offset the drag from elevated price pressures and softer performance in primary and natural resources.

It says the financial sector continued to support domestic economic activity.

Lending to the private sector rose by 6.1 percent last month supported by higher lending to both business entities and private individuals. Liquidity in the banking system remains adequate at $2.1 billion as of Wednesday.

It adds Fiji’s merchandise trade deficit widened by 5.4% to around $3.7 billion in the year to October, as growth in imports continued to outpace the expansion in exports.