Fiji

Money

Since 1995 the Fijian dollar has been in steady decline. During the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, the government announced a 20 percent devaluation in 1997, when it was valued at around US$0.69. Further depreciation followed, accelerated by the 2000 coup. In 2001 the dollar stood at around US$0.44. Fiscal policy is now focused on controlling the deficit and reducing Fiji's large national debt, both of which are long-standing problems made worse by the costs of political crisis. A target deficit of 1.9 percent of GDP in the 1999 budget was found to be unattainable; 2000-01 targets stood at 4 percent, the equivalent of a debt level of around 45 percent of GDP.