When things are tough, we must safeguard the bigger picture. We cannot be reactionary. If we do not take care of the bigger picture, the smaller picture will suffer even a lot more than what we are facing now. There are lessons from around the world that we should heed.
When we compare the interest rates in Fiji with countries like Australia and New Zealand as well as some of our Pacific Island neighbors it clearly reveals that they are relatively low in Fiji. For example the lending rate in New Zealand is 12.25 percent, in Papua New Guinea 10.7 percent and Samoa 11 percent. This compares with 9.34 percent in Fiji.