THE Fiji economy needs to boost its exports and not worry too much about imports says University of the South Pacific economist Doctor Sunil Kumar.
He said the country's business environment had declined despite the reduction in tax — Fiji dropped five ranks on the World Bank's business environment snapshot for the year, from a ranking of 72 in 2011 to 77 this year.
"When consumption happens, imports will increase but if we match it with exports, it can expand the productive sector in one co-operative group," he said.
In terms of our trade flow, Dr Kumar said there was a 5.8 per cent increase in exports from 2011 to 2012 while imports also increased by 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, Fiji's position on the ease-of-doing-business World Bank ranking was attributed to three major obstacles — political instability, labour regulations and crime, theft and disorder.