The Coalition Government of Fiji exceeded expectations in its provisional final fiscal performance record for the 2023-2024 financial year. The report indicated positive changes compared to prior years, highlighted by a smaller-than-anticipated budget deficit and reductions in national debt.
For the financial year, the government reported a deficit of $443.6 million, equivalent to 3.4% of GDP. This figure is significantly lower than the projected 4.8% deficit in the original budget and shows improvement from deficits of 7.1% in 2022-2023 and 12.1% in 2021-2022. This reflects the government’s enhanced fiscal management.
Total revenue for the period reached $3,645.9 million, or 27.7% of GDP, exceeding expectations due to higher-than-anticipated tax and non-tax collections. This also marks a substantial 32.6% increase from the previous year. Tax revenue alone amounted to $3,096.8 million, surpassing forecasts by $60.9 million, or 2.0% higher than expected.
The positive results were largely attributed to improvements in the tourism sector and other industries. Tax collections saw a remarkable increase of 35.5% compared to last year, driven by significant rises in VAT, corporate tax, and departure tax. Additionally, non-tax revenue totaled $549.2 million, exceeding forecasts and including earnings from dividends, grants, and asset sales.
Shiri Gounder, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, emphasized in the report that maintaining fiscal and debt sustainability remains a priority for the government. He commented on the fiscal consolidation achieved in FY2023-2024, which was supported by effective revenue reforms, spending policies, and a robust economic recovery. Gounder noted that Fiji’s economy is buoyant, driven by positive trends in key sectors such as tourism and improved business confidence following the announcement of the FY2024-2025 National Budget.
As of the end of July 2024, government debt stood at $10,309.2 million, representing 78.3% of GDP. This is a decrease from previous years, where it was 82.0% in 2022-2023 and 90.6% in 2021-2022, indicating progress in debt management. The composition of this debt includes 63.9% domestic debt and 36.1% external debt.
Despite these encouraging results, Gounder warned that challenges remain. He noted that while growth momentum is expected to improve with the launch of major tourism projects and the execution of government initiatives in the budget, there are risks from global developments, skilled labor shortages, weather-related issues, and capacity constraints in certain sectors that could impact the economic outlook.