High oil price fuels Tonga's inflation

Economic activity in Tonga is likely to be contracted markedly in 2007, as the Kingdom's economy suffered following a poor agricultural season, the large-scale reduction in civil service workers and the near-destruction of Nuku'alofa's central business district. Reconstruction is taking a long time with only a few projects underway nearly 18 months following the civil disturbance of November 2006.