Pacific

ADB representative says any support to Fiji would have conditions

08:05 am on 21 May 2010

A representative of the Asian Development Bank says any support offered to Fiji would be conditional on structural reforms by the interim regime to improve its economy.

ADB representative in Suva, Lai Tora says the Fiji authorities have a series of fiscal deficits to fund their extension programmes.

He says discussions between the International Monetary Fund and the Fiji government are looking at ways to improve productivity in the sugar industry.

He says land reforms freeing up the abundance of land in Fiji to raise capital is another possibility.

"At the moment Fiji, the total debt talk is a little over fifty per cent of GDP, I think fifty three per cent is the information we have. And that's above the threshold of sustainability that some organisations like for example the institutions like the IMF have for countries of Fiji's size and the structure of Fiji's economy."

Lai Tora says the Asian Development Bank concerned about underlying weaknesses in Fiji's economy but it is adopting a wait and see approach while talks continue.