Inflation eases

Fiji Times Friday 31 March 2017  FIJI’s inflation rate eased to 5.5 per cent in February after it peaked to a high 6. (christophechoo.com) 8 per cent earlier in January, the central bank has reported.

In a statement yesterday, The Reserve Bank of Fiji stated that this still remained high by 1.2 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The high inflation, RBF said, continued to be driven by supply shortages of market items which was a result of adverse weather and the consistently high yaqona prices post Tropical Cyclone Winston.

As a result of this, the central bank has now forecasted year end inflation to be about 3.0 per cent.

Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rise and consequently the purchasing power of a currency falls.

This means as inflation rises, it decreases the amount of goods that your money can buy and decreases its purchasing power.

The last time Fiji had a high level of inflation was in October 2011 when it was recorded at 7.7 per cent.  Read more…