The Fiji economy has been projected to grow by 3.1 percent in 2006, said the chief of Reserve Bank Monday.

According to government website, Reserve Bank's Governor Savenaca Narube said in the June Quarterly Review that "economic developments during the second quarter of 2006 reflected robust domestic demand."

He said that during the review period, higher lending by financial institutions, a partial indicator of consumption, showed that consumption remained strong.

Imports continued to outpace the growth in exports, thus widening Fiji's trade deficit.

Furthermore, the rising imports bill is being exacerbated by the high and volatile international crude oil prices.

In order to dampen domestic demand, the Governor mentioned that the Bank raised its policy indicator rate by 100 basis points to 4. 25 percent in June.

Narube emphasized that the Bank will continue to monitor developments in the economy in the approaching months and align monetary policy accordingly.

In regards to the labor market, he revealed that partial indicators of employment and results of surveys conducted in June showed that employment conditions are improving and are expected to remain firm in the coming months.

Source: Xinhua