BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has highlighted a key challenge facing the country, and that is that population growth rate is currently outpacing the economic growth rate.

And being with this status, it has significant implications on the development of the country.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Manele explained that development can only occur at a rapid pace if the economic growth rate surpasses the population growth rate.

Unfortunately, he said Solomon Islands has been grappling with the opposite trend.

“Over the years, our population growth rate has been much higher than our economic growth rate. These are factors we continue to struggle with,” Manele said.

As a government, he said they will continue to issue statements outlining what they intend to do, demonstrating their commitment to deal with these issues.

However, Manele noted that the government’s ability to act depends on the competing priorities the country faces, including the availability of resources and the state of various sectors of the economy.

He also emphasized that these challenges are particularly important as the country prepares to graduate from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status in 2027.

“These are issues we may continue to face, and we will have to manage them going forward,” Manele said.

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