The Fijian Economy is expected to grow by 3.1% next year, this is a slight dip in comparison to this year, which stood at a revised 3.2%.

Speaking to FBC News, Economist, Dr Rohit Kishore predicts while it may be slightly down, the economy is expected to grow at a steady pace.

Dr Kishore says economic growth is determined by many factors both domestically and internationally.

“The domestic economy to some extent depends on our trading partners and our global economy general. When you look at the global economy it was forecast to grow at 2.9 and then revised 3.8 and now the latest revision is further down to 3.7 – so if you look over the two years and now 2019 they have revised the economy two times.”

Dr Kishore believes the central bank’s monetary policy plays a pivotal role in maintaining the steady growth.

“Key role is the monetary policy and the interest rate which should remain down. The reason being that there is a lot of debt in the system both commercial and residential. So that’s an increase amount of load in the system and if the interest goes even the slightest bit up as some banks have done it will make an impact. I also hope the RBF doesn’t increase and it remains low at this rate at least for another two year. This will help out grow the economy.”

Economy Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says this growth is expected to remain.

“The reality is that the Fijian economy has actually been doing really well. The reality is that has been validated by IMF, it has been growing for the past nine years. The reality is that the economy has never done so well at least in 50 years or so. The reality as well is that we need to constantly be remodeling ourselves to face the challenges of a modern day country in a modernized world.”

The economic growth that is forecast for next year would mean prosperity across the entire country with Fijians reaping the benefits.