World Bank provides US$8.4m to Tonga [1]
Friday, May 15, 2020 - 18:41
Tonga will receive US$8.4 million from the World Bank with US$5.5m allocated to improve management of its public finances, boost resilience to the effects of climate change, and provide better access to skills training for labour opportunities domestically and internationally.
US$2.9m will go towards Tonga’s CoViD-19 response including health-sector preparedness, and purchasing critical health equipment such as personal protective equipment (PPEs) for health workers, ventilators, and monitors, and other items.
Minister for Finance, Hon Tevita Lavemaau said given the economic impacts we are now seeing from CoViD-19, building resilience – both to CoViD-19 itself, and to financial and climate change-related impacts – is critically important to safeguard the future of all Tongans.
“We’re pleased to be working closely with the World Bank to help deliver these important reforms and build resilience for our country at this challenging time.”
World Bank Country Director for Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, Michel Kerf, said as Tonga, and the world responds to the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing how critical a stable, more resilient economy is for all Tongans.
“We are proud to support Tonga in its efforts to deliver important policy reforms that will benefit more Tongan families for years to come.”
Through the Tonga First Resilience Development Policy Operation, the first of two planned operations over the next 18 months will support Government’s efforts to boost fiscal sustainability by improving revenue administration and strengthening the public sector remuneration system with an updated classification of public service roles, as recommended by Tonga’s Public Service Commission and Cabinet.
It will also help ensure better outcomes for those affected by climate-related disasters, through the adoption of a policy to guide housing recovery and reconstruction programs in the aftermath of a disaster.
The new policy is expected to help determine the support that will be provided to Tongan families whose homes were damaged or lost in last month’s Tropical Cyclone Harold, for example.
In addition, the operation will help increase labour mobility program participation by Tongans – particularly women, who until recently made up just 12 percent of program participants. The operation will support the approval of new policy frameworks for labour mobility and the technical/vocational education sector.
These policies are designed to help increase the supply of skilled workers in the domestic labor market, and help more Tongans access the considerable benefits of Australian and New Zealand government labour schemes, while ensuring families remaining in Tonga are fully supported.
The US$5.5 million policy operation is a direct grant financed through the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries, with the $2.89 million in COVID-19 support to Tonga delivered through the Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) of the Tonga Climate Resilient Transport Project [2]. This support is in addition to the $4.5 million disaster insurance payout for Tonga [3], through the World Bank-supported Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), in the wake of last month’s Category Five Tropical Cyclone Harold.