SUVA (Pacnews) — The collapse in Fiji’s economy is now more noticeable, the Fiji Retailers Association says.
The association has warned of a severe decline in retail trade as the negative trend in the economy continues.
Association president Himmat Lodhia said quite a few business could collapse owing to the increasing costs of doing business and relative decline in the sales trade.
Even though not blaming the military takeover of last year as the contributor to this declining retail business, Lodhia said the business community is suffering now more than ever.
He said there has been a declining trend in the retail trade for the past few weeks in the country, with most retailers digging into their own savings to survive.
“So far, we have had no positive indications of any related costs of doing business to fall,”’ Lodhia said.
“There seems to be a rising trend; rentals for building space have increased and the bank fees and interest charges have soared compared to the relative charges this time last year.”
But he said they are grateful that the security of properties and lives is maintained by the interim regime.
Lodhia said they do not want a reversal in the security aspect.
But in terms of business, retailers want the government to come up with a sensible budget. “We need the dollar to be in everyone’s pocket and the dollar to go around,” he said.
“The government has to come up with a budget or ideas to stop the declining trend of the economy.”
Stakeholders in the tourism industry expressed similar sentiments. Fiji Islands Hotels Association president Dixon Seeto said Fiji tourism is far from normal and it will take a while before tourism bounces back to its feet.
He said how much tourists spend in Fiji besides their hotel accommodation is what stakeholders measure in terms of recovery of the industry.
Seeto said tourism is recovering very slowly. He said an ideal situation will be tourists paying a good price for accommodation and staying here longer.
“In respect to this, Australians and New Zealanders are very important to us as they stay longer when here in the country,” he said.
“And their stay per day is among the highest for visitors staying in the country besides other overseas people staying in the country. Even if you have the same number of tourist arrivals, your foreign exchange will be lower.”