Results for Economy and Trade

The revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement GPA entered into force on 6 April 2014. The parties to the revised GPA will see gains in market access of an estimated US$80 billion to US$100 billion annually for their businesses. – WTO 7 April 2014.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is weeding out corruption from its development projects, barring any firm or individual it believes is cheating development projects.

An important review of Tonga's trade policy by the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, from February 11-13, found that the Pacific island nation faces a backlog of reforms that are required to modernize and streamline its legal and regulatory frameworks for economic development. Tonga's imports continue to outstrip its exports by a factor of at least 10:1 annually and over 50% of its imports are for fuel and food.

During its first year of operation Tonga's new National Retirement Benefits Fund collected over $6.15 million pa‘anga from its membership of 4,304 employees and 308 employers, and may expect to double its membership in the future as more businesses join the statutory fund, whose administration has been supported by donor funding.

The World Bank has announced that it has setup a US$5 million support operation to aid Tonga’s recovering economy.

Cheaper fuel prices have been announced for mid-October to mid-November. The prices of Petrol, Kerosene and Diesel have all decreased compared to the prices approved for the last monthly period mid-September to mid-October.

The Asian Development Bank ADB is providing a USD$4.5 million grant to finance Tonga's efforts to achieve fiscal stability and to improve its long-term economic growth prospects.

A top priority for Tonga is a reduction in the size of its public service and a reduction of the wage bill to 45%, from the current height of about 75% of the government's annual budget, a new economic report by the Asian Development Bank recommends. It also recommended for government to appoint an Anti-corruption Commissioner.

The Minister of Finance, Hon. Lisiate 'Akolo has launched Tonga's biggest ever national budget amounting to T$357.6 million for the 2013-14 financial year, and expressed concern over low returns to government from public enterprises.