Results for Economy and Trade

Petroleum prices in Tonga's remote Niuas islands passed the $4 a litre mark, following yesterday's nationwide fuel price rise that added between .20 seniti to .22 per litre on last month's price.

Tonga is waking up after a long slumber, Tonga's Minister of Finance, Hon. Afu'alo Matoto said this morning, predicting that a small growth in the economy next year might turn around a long decline in the country's economic performance.

Tonga's official foreign reserves for May held by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, stood at $89.5 million, the equivalent of 3.6 months of imports of goods.

Economic activity in Tonga is likely to be contracted markedly in 2007, as the Kingdom's economy suffered following a poor agricultural season, the large-scale reduction in civil service workers and the near-destruction of Nuku'alofa's central business district. Reconstruction is taking a long time with only a few projects underway nearly 18 months following the civil disturbance of November 2006.

As Tonga's electricity price goes up by 20.7% to 23% tonight households and small businesses will wake up in the morning to face the fact they will be paying hundreds of pa'anga more for their electricity supply this year, while for larger businesses the new rate will increase their costs by thousands of pa'anga per year.

Tonga needs more remittances and more foreign aid flowing into the country, if it is to maintain a balance of trade with Australia and New Zealand, its main trading partners, Hon. Afu'alo Matoto, the Minister of Information said last week.

Tonga's Foreign Reserve in December 2007 increased by $19.8 million, from $94.8 million in November to $114.6 million, an amount equivalent to 5.1 months of imports of goods.

The Tongan economy and governance issues will be discussed tomorrow in Nuku'alofa in "Tonga Update", a program of the Australian National University, Canberra, and the Ministry of Finance, Tonga.

The new president of the World Bank, Bob Zoellick, has said it is "absolutely critical" that South Pacific nations be able to send guest workers to Australia.