Fiji’s economic challenges are well known but a lack of urgent action is holding the country back.
Fiscal Review Committee Chair Richard Naidu says extensive advice, policy recommendations and solutions are already available, yet government is failing to respond with the urgency the situation demands.
Speaking at the State of the Economy Dialogue 2026, Naidu said Fiji faces serious challenges in poverty, health, education and productivity with more than a third of the population still living in or near poverty.
“And the government is not doing that. The government is too distracted by other things. The government must, at political level, pick these issues up and act with urgency.”
Naidu says economic growth is essential to raise incomes, reduce poverty and improve public services, stressing that growth benefits all Fijians, not just the wealthy.
He warned that Fiji is facing a triple threat of high public debt, limited capacity to respond to future shocks and the growing cost of replacing ageing infrastructure, including roads, bridges, water and electricity systems.
Naidu also expressed concern that recent economic growth has been driven largely by tourism rather than long-term structural reforms.
While tourism helped power the post-COVID recovery, he states that growth has now slowed to below three percent, well short of the 5.7 percent needed to meet Fiji’s development goals.
Naidu said Fiji’s biggest problem was not a lack of ideas but a lack of urgency in turning those ideas into action.
