pacific economy ”. our griffith counterparts have assured us that some of our regional joint papers are good potentials for top - ranked journals in the coming years. there is certainly much to be excited about, for a unique regional partnership of this kind, yet, it would be remiss of me if i did not acknowledge a certain individual whose confidence in our work, and tireless efforts behind the scenes got us in the door with griffith university. ladies and gentlemen, we would not have come this far if it was not for the key role played by dr. parmendra sharma, a former colleague of us here at the reserve bank of fiji. had it not been for his work in linking our researchers to the griffith experts and securing the necessary funding through the australian department of foreign affairs & trade ( dfat ), i believe we would not be having this conference today. reserve bank of fiji i am also pleased to mention that dr sharma has just been recognized for his collaborative work with central banks in the pacific by being awarded the 2018 griffith business school pro vice chancellor ’ s engagement leadership award. our heartiest congratulations to you dr sharma! let me now move on to the three key messages that i wish to share today : 1. being small should not be an excuse for not conducting good research a favourite quote that i share a lot and make reference to in my regular discussions with my staff and external stakeholders of the reserve bank of fiji is by dr zeti akhtar aziz, former governor of bank negara malaysia, and she said : “ the central bank is a high impact organization. its decisions or indecisions, its actions or inactions will have major and far reaching repercussions and consequences on the economic well - being of the public at large and the entire spectrum of businesses. the responsibility and accountability are therefore immense........ central banking is therefore not for the faint of heart. ” we cannot, therefore, make the excuse of being small central banks, as a limiting factor to our research capabilities, because the responsibility and accountability we play in our small economies are immense. our business is about bringing value and benefits to our citizens as policy making institutions and while research allows us as policymakers to do our job better, good research lends credibility and improves the quality of our policy. so we ask the question, what is necessary to produce good research at the central bank? there is no single formula for this but there are some necessary conditions for

of ups and downs. despite the trying years of late, i would like to thank the board and its management for its perseverence. the fact that fijicare continues to operate today is testament to their resilience and continued confidence in our economy. the fiji economy ladies and gentlemen, please allow me say a few words about our economy. the overall economic expansion for this year is expected to remain above 2 percent, largely driven by the continued growth in consumption and investment related activity. this is evident through higher vat collections, sales of new vehicles, private sector credit and value of work put in place as well as domestic cement sales. however while there is ongoing buoyancy in domestic demand, there are obvious risks on the external front given the recent downward revisions in global growth. despite the increasing global uncertainty, our monetary policy objectives remain at comfortable levels. inflation continues on a general downward trend and is expected to fall further to 3. 5 percent by the end of the year. this is driven by lower prices for food and stability in oil prices. foreign reserves are currently around $ 1. 6 billion, or sufficient to cover 5. 0 months of retained imports of goods and non - factor services. given the slowing of the global economy and a stable outlook for our foreign reserves and inflation, monetary policy will continue to remain accommodative to provide further stimulus for economic growth. with this positive outlook the insurance industry can be expected to benefit, in line with gdp growth. bis central bankers ’ speeches a final point i would venture to make concerns investment possibilities in the field of medical care pertaining to “ retirement villages ”. while talking to groups of potential investors, including well - off retirees, in korea and japan recently, our fiji delegation found that there was great interest to come to live here ( of course golf and a slower pace of life was mentioned a lot ). a major hurdle the investors noted, and also admitted by ourselves, was the need for quality responsive medical facilities and necessary evacuation as needed. from our discussions this is clearly a valuable tourism niche which could be exploited, not only by the government but also by our private sector. i say this because fijicare is in the business now of providing medical facilities. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, fijicare ’ s 20th anniversary celebrations this year is evident of its commitment and perseverance. i congratulate them for achieving this milestone. i would like to again thank the fijicare team for your kind invitation. i rei