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$0.44. Fiscal policy is now focused on controlling the deficit and reducing Fiji's large national debt , both of which are long-standing problems made worse by the costs of political crisis. A target deficit of 1.9 percent of GDP in the 1999 budget was found to be unattainable; 2000-01 targets stood at 4 percent, the equivalent of a debt level of around 45 percent of GDP.
Exchange rates: Fiji | |
Fijian dollars (F$) per US$1 | |
Jan 2001 | 2.1814 |
2000 | 2.1286 |
1999 | 1.9696 |
1998 | 1.9868 |
1997 | 1.4437 |
1996 | 1.4033 |
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2001 [ONLINE]. |
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