Results for Economy and Trade

Tonga’s growth potential is below what it could be. The economy has been growing well below the regional average for the past two decades, says an IMF Staff report released on February 24. Growth is expected to gradually decline “unless there is a concerted effort to remove bottlenecks hampering private sector development.”

An invention by a Tongan-Australian called “The Reviver”, an exercising apparatus that enables a person to straighten his or her spine, ease the pain in the hips, and helps an aged person to walk without pain, arrived in Tonga this week and was put through its paces at the Royal Palace. By Pesi Fonua.

The Asian Development Bank Outlook 2019 this month has forecasted that the Pacific region economy will grow by 4.2% in 2019.

A $5 million grant has been approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue helping Tonga strengthen its fiscal position on June 6. The funds will be released after Tonga adopts prudent policies and better public financial management, aiming to improve Tonga’s business climate with policy, regulator and public enterprise reforms.

The use of new technology to facilitate trade and address food safety was discussed at the International Forum on Food Safety and Trade held on 23-24 April, by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Addis Ababa.

Tonga is currently playing an active role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Lopeti Senituli, a personal adviser to the Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva, told Matangi Tonga.

The National Reserve Bank of Tonga aims at securing Tonga’s Foreign Reserves at a level of about $457.3 million, equivalent to more than seven months of imports, with the enforcement of the Foreign Exchange Control Act 2018 on 1 November. The Act requires Tongan exporters to repatriate at least 60% of their export proceeds. And, if the economy fails and the foreign reserves drop below the threshold, - then the Act gives the government the right to try and force Tongans who have invested overseas to repatriate their funds to Tonga. The Act was passed at the time Tonga expected to start repaying its loans to China.

The Tonga Government will start paying $TOP10.8 million a year during the next ten years, (principal only) of its $TOP119m loan from the Exim Bank of China that was used to fund reconstruction projects after the 2006 riots in Nuku'alofa. The start of the principal repayments has already contributed to a $22.8m decline in Tonga’s foreign reserves in September. Now Tonga is confronting the real cost of the riots.

A new Foreign Exchange Control Act 2018 that gives the National Reserve Bank of Tonga sweeping powers to selectively stop Tongan residents from investing offshore and from holding overseas bank accounts, property and other offshore assets, is not currently being enforced. The Governor of the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, Dr Ngongo Kioa, said today that the new Act awaits regulations and directives from Crown Law.