Fiji has enough fuel in storage to meet demand for the coming weeks but households and businesses will continue to feel the pinch as global prices bite, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said, announcing a $56 million redeployment from the 2025–2026 Budget to cushion the impact.
Speaking on April 24, Rabuka gave the most detailed public accounting yet of the nation’s fuel position. As of April 19 Fiji had about 45 million litres of fuel on land, with a further 22 million litres expected to arrive before the end of the month — bringing total available supply for April to roughly 67 million litres, close to half of national storage capacity. Fiji’s daily consumption remains steady at about 2.5 million litres, Rabuka said, and under normal usage stocks are expected to draw down to roughly 40 million litres — about 29 percent of capacity — by month’s end as tanks are readied to receive incoming shipments.
The prime minister stressed the problem facing Fiji is not a local shortage but a global price crisis driven by disruptions to supply routes and higher purchasing costs. “This is not a fuel shortage crisis. This is a global price crisis,” Rabuka said, pointing to the fallout from the conflict in the Middle East, disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and rising international market costs. He noted fuel is purchased in US dollars and that movement in global prices is passed on to domestic consumers.
The government is preparing for a rebound in physical supplies: fuel suppliers have committed to deliver about 118 million litres in May, which Rabuka said would lift national stocks to above 59 percent of storage capacity. Despite that improvement in volumes, the independent price regulator, the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC), set a price increase on April 1 to reflect higher global purchasing costs, and Rabuka warned another rise is anticipated in May.
To blunt the economic pain, Cabinet on April 21 approved redeploying $56 million (US$39.95 million) from within the existing 2025–2026 Budget to support households, businesses and essential services. Rabuka said the funding is not new borrowing but a reprioritisation of funds from delayed projects to provide immediate support. He described the country as operating in “Phase 1” — a normal supply situation but under pressure from high global fuel prices — and said the government’s “focus is simple: protect livelihoods, maintain essential services, and support the most vulnerable.”
The update builds on earlier government assurances in March that Fiji’s fuel reserves were being closely monitored amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. At the time Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel and other officials cautioned the public against panic but warned that prolonged disruption to shipping routes could push prices higher. The new figures make clear that while physical supplies are stable for now, policymakers expect cost pressures to persist and have moved to reallocate budget resources in response.
With the FCCC’s monthly price review pending and a second round of price rises foreshadowed for May, households and businesses will be watching closely to see how the government’s $56 million package will be deployed and whether it will be sufficient to offset higher pump prices in the weeks ahead.