Ritika Pratap 
The Reserve Bank of Fiji in its latest economic review has stated that the annual headline inflation was 3.6 percent in October, lower than the 4.2 percent in September.
For the same period last year, inflation stood at four percent.
RBF Governor Ariff Ali says the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic beverages, tobacco & narcotics categories underpinned the outcome.
Ali says by year-end, headline inflation is projected to settle at around 3.5 percent, lower than the 5.1 percent recorded in December 2023.
He says this will be due to a moderation in prices noted in the food & non-alcoholic beverages, transport, and housing & utilities categories.
Meanwhile, Ali says recent data supports the upward revision of economic growth for 2024 to 3.8 percent.
He states that a record number of visitor arrivals was registered last month, resulting in the cumulative growth of 6.5 percent for the first ten months of the year compared with the same period in 2023.
In addition, Ali says the outturn in the economy is supported by private sector credit which grew by 11.2 percent in October, as well as a similar increase in government expenditure.
He adds that the financial sector has supported the current domestic conditions, with ample liquidity (25/11) at around $2.3 billion, and lending rates are near historic lows.
