Results for Economy and Trade

Tonga's prices for Diesel, Kerosene, Petrol and LPG Gas will rise from mid-night on Sunday April 17, the government's Competent Authority Committee announced late on Friday, April 15.

Tonga's official Foreign Reserves held by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga in February was $158.8 million, the equivalent of 6.5 months of imports of goods.

A large decline in remittances to Tonga is slowing down the economy while the inflation rate is expected to rise continually over the next six months, causing a weak domestic economy, Tonga's Reserve Bank has reported.

Tonga's official Foreign Reserves fell by $12.3 million from $177.5 million to $165.2 million in January 2011.

Tonga's Foreign Reserve for December 2010 that was held by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, rose by $9.5 million to $177.5 million compared to $168.0 million in November 2010 and $160.4 million in December 2009.

Faced with continuing drops in remittances and two years of negative growth, Tonga's financial planners have turned to aid donors to support the national budget for the new financial year 2010-11, in order to meet a current deficit of $12.1 million pa'anga, as well as multi-million pa'anga development budget needs.

Tonga's official Foreign Reserves held by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga for March rose by $2 million pa'anga to $155.5 million due to an official grant from the Asian Development Bank.

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.

As an economic slowdown continues, the National Reserve Bank of Tonga has offered SDR relief for commercial banks, to encourage them to reduce interest rates for customers.