Economic reforms

Regional

a must for

success

The Asian Development Bank has warned that Pacific island economies will have to overcome a number of econom ic problems if they are to make the best use of their limited resources.

In its Outlook Report for 1995-96, the bank says Pacific countries need to improve the efficiency of their public sectors.

The bank suggests one way is through withdrawing government from essentially commercial activities which can be han dled more efficiently by the private sec tor.

The report says improving the public sec tor calls for sustained efforts to build up institutional capacity for economic man agement, effective policy formation and

informed decision-making.

The bank notes that some countries did well in 1994, including Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Tonga, with growth rates between 3.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent.

However, the bank says average eco nomic growth in Pacific island nations slowed to 1.4 percent due largely to a sharp fall in economic growth in Papua New Guinea.