Foreign reserve falls due to large loan repayments [1]
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 22:09. Updated on Sunday, May 25, 2014 - 21:38.
Tonga's Foreign Reserves fell by $7.3 million to $153.5 million in February, mainly due to a large official capital outflow that was used for the repayment of foreign currency loans.
At the same time the level of imports also fell by 32 percent in the same month.
The Acting Deputy Governor of the National Reserve Bank Jessie Cocker, said the large official capital outflow that contributed to the significant fall in the official foreign reserves for February 2010 was mainly due to repayment of foreign currency loans.
In a Press Release from the National Reserve Bank dated March 9 the foreign reserve for February was equivalent to 6.4 months of imports. This showed a drop in the level of imports in comparison to January when it was at 6.8.
Jessie said based on overseas exchange transactions, the level of imports for the year ending February 2010, declined by $93.5 million, which is 32%.
However, the foreign reserve in February remains much higher in comparison to February last year, which was $131.1 million.