Parliament passed Tonga’s biggest National Budget of $659M

Tongan’s biggest national budget of $659.3 million Pa’anga for the 2018-19 Financial Year was passed by the Tongan Parliament before midnight on Wednesday, 20 June. The Government’s major expenditure is the salaries of Civil servants, at 53.6% of Tonga’s Gross Domestic Product. The number of civil servants has increased tremendously since 2005, from 3500 to 5000. Some members were very concerned about a lack of detail in the Ministries budget allocations.