Fiji Again Bought
p. 158 · Read in the full issue
1955 Trade
Analysed
Fiji Again Bought More Than It Soli
FIJI had an adverse trade balano of approximately £2 million ii 1955, although exports as wes as imports reached new record level!
Fiji’s total external trade for thi year was nearly £27 million, import totalling over £l4 million and ex ports over £l2 million.
Both imports and exports wen considerably higher than in 195 c imports reaching 123.4 per cent, o the 1954 -figure, and exports 111 J per cent.
Of imports, manufactured good! chiefly materials, totalled over fi million; machinery, etc., million food £3 million.
Nearly three-quarters of Fijii exports and re-exports for 1955 feE under the two headings of food am oils —accounted for by the import ance of the sugar, copra and fruj industries.
More than a third of Fiji’s trad] was with the UK, imports wen £5,300,000, and exports £4,700,000.
Australia was second as a souro of imports (nearly 31 million), fo!< lowed by New Zealand (over £ million). India and Indonesia wen both over £BOO,OOO and the US.{ £640,000.
After the United Kingdom, thi best export markets were New Zess land (£2 h million), Canada £2 miJ lion), Australia took only £1 million of “goods” from Fiji in thi period—if gold bullion, whio made up the bulk of this trade, cat be called goods.
Its adverse trade with AustraliJ has been a sore point with Fiji fo many years. Unfortunately, Aus. tralia produces the things that Fii relies upon for export income.