Cushion cost of living pressures: Narube tells Govt

Former Reserve Bank Governor and Unity Fiji leader Savenaca Narube has called on the Government to take urgent action to cushion the impact of rising living costs, saying ordinary consumers are bearing the full burden of increasing prices.

Speaking during Dialogue Fiji’s State of the Economy dialogue at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva today, Mr Narube said while many cost pressures were driven by global factors, the Government could do more to reduce their impact on households.

“I've been saying this a lot. The few issues on the cost of living, I know it's coming from abroad. We really do not have any control of that,” he said.

“But we can control the impact, and how that impact is shared in the economy. The equitable burden sharing of this cost of living.”

Mr Narube said consumers were currently carrying most of the burden.

“At this time, as I see, the consumers are bearing all this.”

He suggested the Government review price control mechanisms, examine business margins, reduce customs duties on fuel and consider increasing duties on luxury goods.

“What about reducing custom duties on fuel?” he said.

“And perhaps increase duties on luxury items. It's revenue neutral kind of policy.”

Mr Narube also called for measures to stabilise the value of the Fiji dollar against the Australian dollar.

His comments came as he warned that Fiji was facing worsening economic conditions, rising debt levels, declining real incomes and deepening poverty.

“The economy is going down. You may quote whatever reasons why it's going down, but the fact is, it is going down,” he said.

“The cost of living is going up and it will continue to go up.”

Mr Narube said Fiji was in its weakest economic position in three decades and required urgent action.

“To me, we are at the most difficult, weakest position that we have found ourselves in the last three decades and the thing is, it'll get worse before it gets better.”

He identified creating fiscal space, cushioning the cost of living and fighting corruption as his three immediate priorities, alongside economic diversification as a medium-term goal.