than for australia, so australia ’ s relative performance improved towards the end of this 50 - year period. while economic growth in australia was lower than for the oecd on average over the 1950s and 1960s, it was higher in the 1980s and 1990s, with the biggest advantage in australia ’ s favour occurring in the 1990s. alan blinder, “ hard heads, soft hearts : tough - minded economics for a just society ”, addison - wesley, 1987. e a boehm identified two recessions in the 1970s, the first in 1974 and the second from august 1976 to october 1977. see “ the usefulness and applications of economic indicator analysis ”, institute for applied economic and social research working paper no. 9, 1989. table 1 real gdp growth - average annual rate australia oecd 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 4. 2 5. 3 5. 4 5. 2 3. 4 3. 5 3. 3 2. 6 3. 3 2. 1 this is a surprise to some people and one response is to query it on the grounds that our recent relatively buoyant economic growth could have been mainly the result of our faster population growth. table 2 examines this issue by taking out the effect of population growth and looking at real gdp per capita over the same five decades. on this basis, the recent relative improvement is now more pronounced than in the earlier table. the 1990s not only shows a pick - up in australia ’ s growth of real gdp per capita compared with the two previous decades, but it is the only decade in which australian gdp per capita has grown faster than the oecd area, and by an appreciable amount. table 2 real gdp growth per capita - average annual rate australia oecd 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 1. 8 3. 5 3. 3 3. 9 1. 7 2. 4 1. 7 1. 8 2. 1 1. 3 i do not want to suggest that our recent economic performance means that we have returned to a golden age such as we had in the immediate postwar period. nor do i wish to deny that there is still a backlog of remedial work to be done - our unemployment rate being an obvious example. but, on the other hand, we must be doing something right. our expansion so far in the 1990s has outlasted its predecessors in the 1970s and 1980s, and it is still going strong. we have withstood a difficult external shock, and should be able to sustain

sada s reddy : the future for fiji ’ s economy presentation by mr sada s reddy, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, to the fiji institute of accountants, yanuca, fiji, 11 june 2010. * * * the president of the fiji institute of accountants, distinguished guests, ladies & gentlemen good morning thank you for inviting me to speak to you on the future for fiji ’ s economy. it goes without saying, ladies and gentlemen, that this is a daunting task for the governor of a central bank to speak on given that a central bank has a much narrower role in the economy. the role of a central bank first and foremost is to maintain price stability. this in itself is a very challenging role. on top of this, in fiji ’ s case, we also have an equally important task of ensuring that our balance of payment is sustainable. in other words, we have to ensure that our foreign reserves are kept at adequate levels. i am sure most of you in the audience have been closely following the developments in this regard in fiji over a number of years but more importantly, over the last three years, with the onset of the global economic and financial crisis. ladies and gentlemen, herein lies the reason for me to muster the courage to talk to you today about fiji ’ s economy and how i see its future. in some respects, my speech will be a “ hardtalk on fiji ’ s economy ”. to get a better idea of our future, it is important to look to the past, learn from the lessons and chart a way forward for our country. in doing this, we must also understand how domestic and external factors impact our economy. ladies and gentlemen, i will first look at the performance of the global economy, particularly at the performance of our trading partner countries. i will then discuss the domestic economy, where i will touch on fiji ’ s macroeconomic performance and challenges, and what we must do to ensure that we secure a better future for all. 1. global economic conditions and outlook let me begin by summarizing the conditions in the global economy. according to the international monetary fund ( imf ), the global economy is expected to grow by 4. 2 percent this year, following a contraction of 0. 6 % in 2009. further growth of 4. 3 percent is expected in 2011. the contraction of last year is regarded as the worst since the great depression of the 1930s. however, that is now well behind us. ladies