Results for Economy and Trade

The Tonga Government does not have an investigation project to find out if Tonga civil servants are considered unpaid, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr ‘Aisake Eke said. “There is no investigation, but a review of the salary structure,” he said in a statement on August 7.

A proposal for government to finance the 2019 Pacific Games with Consumption Tax, instead of a levy on profit from foreign currency exchange transactions was presented by Bernie Poort from the ANZ Bank and Dan Henson from the Bank of the South Pacific to the Minister of Finance, Hon. ‘Aisake Eke during a Tonga Chamber of Commerce special meeting on Friday, 31 July.

The World Bank has warned Tonga of large fiscal risks which are lurking in the horizon, “the repayment of its two external loans, the financing of the 2019 South Pacific Games, and the periodic large public servant wage demands.”

Tonga's over all Public Debt at the end of January 2015 stood at $392.6 million pa‘anga or 48.4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to financial statistics released by the Ministry of Finance this week.

With domestic inflation easing since June and headline inflation well below the reference range of 6-8% there are no inflationary pressures on the monetary policy stance in the near term, the National Reserve Bank of Tonga reported on December 17.

Tonga's economy is set to receive a boost after the World Bank today approved a second USD$5 million operation to support growth through the government's national development strategy.

The inflation rate for the month of August this year 2014 was almost three times higher than the inflation rate for the month of August last year 2013.

The Tongan currency (Pa’anga) has shown a continuing decline against the New Zealand and Australian dollars over the last 15 years, and the pa'anga is, arguably, in its worst year ever against its major trading partners.

A need to continue to improve the business environment in Tonga and to bolster confidence is stressed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its 2014 country report for Tonga released today, which also notes that the Tongan economy is rebounding supported by agricultural exports and post-cyclone reconstruction activity.