Tonga’s Official Foreign Reserve held by the National Reserve Bank was $457.5 million at the end of March, equivalent to 6.8 months of imports.

The significant decline of our Foreign Reserves during March by $22.3 million, was attributed to outflows of payments for imports and repayment of external debt.

Tonga’s Foreign Reserves has been on decline since the beginning of 2020, but has been propped-up with annual budget support, grants, and project funds from development partners.

The Foreign Reserves held by the Reserve Bank in January declined by $4.5 million over the month, but it was propped up by $4.0 million to $482.9 million over the year to January 2020, which is equivalent to 7.5 months of  imports.

The monthly decline in January was due mainly to oil import payments, transfer of profits offshore and business import payments for goods and services, and the annual growth was due largely from budget support, grants, and project funds from Development Partners.

The Foreign Reserve for February declined by $3.1m but it had increased by $6.3 million over the year to January 2020 to $479.8 million, equivalent to 7.4 months of imports. The monthly decline was attributed mainly to import payments by businesses for oil and other various goods.

The annual growth resulted largely from budget support, grants, and project funds from development partners.