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.
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Results for Economy
Friday 7 September 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's National Retirement Benefit Fund Board has taken up a 15% shareholding of the government-owned Tonga Development Bank, under a current restructuring of its capital base. The Minister of Finance said that the legislative amendments will not only remove the TDB from being under the Public Enterprises Act, but also change the ministerial responsibility.
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Thursday 2 August 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s official foreign reserve continued to grow as the National Reserve Bank of Tonga recorded an increase of $26.8 million for the month of June. The reserves rose to $468.7 million, equivalent to 8.1 months of imports.
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Wednesday 17 January 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Foreign currency exchange operations by unauthorized dealers has become a major concern for the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, who want to shut down the involvement of retail shops in Tonga offering the services illegally to their customers. They are hoping the public will report illegal activities.
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Monday 20 November 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
New financial knowledge and skills have been developed in the Pacific Islands over the last seven years following initiatives by banks to broaden access to financial services for many more people. Ressa Price, the ANZ regional Executive Director for the Pacific, visiting Tonga on November 16, released a report on the the impact of the bank's MoneyMinded program that was launched in 2010 in a number of Pacific Islands countries,
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Friday 17 November 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The three-days 32nd Annual Meeting of the South Pacific Central Bank Governors Annual Meeting ended in Nuku’alofa today, 17 November 2017.
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Friday 13 October 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The World Bank is convinced that its Pacific Possible PP initiatives will boost economic growth in the Pacific Island Countries PIC over the next 25 years.
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Monday 2 October 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s public debt at the end of the current 2017 fiscal year is estimated to be equivalent to half of our Gross Domestic Product GDP (about TOP$444.7m), according to an updated version of the Asian Development Outlook ADO 2017, published by the Asian Development Bank at the end of September.
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Friday 4 August 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A new customs duty and excise tax introduced last year has driven import prices up causing inflation to hit significantly high levels in Tonga. Annual inflation rose by 10% over the year to May 2017 - well above the National Reserve Bank of Tonga's reference rate of 5%.
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Wednesday 12 July 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga became a prospective member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in June.
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Thursday 8 June 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tongan handicrafts were showcased by local artists to Crown Princess Sinaitakala Tuku’aho on Thursday, June 8 at a True Tonga Inc. meeting held at the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel.
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Tuesday 2 May 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The World Bank’s Board of Executive directors on April 27 approved US$5 Million to support Tonga’s Second Inclusive Growth Development Policy Operation.
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Friday 21 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Two key challenges that the Tongan government faces now are to manage carefully its wages bill and also its financing of the 2019 South Pacific Games related constructions. The World Bank also believes that Tonga should undergo an economic reform to shore up its revenue, “contain unproductive spending while boosting critical expenditures on health and education, and build up buffers against shocks.”
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Wednesday 12 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga faces a growing need to restrain public wage growth to decrease the share of wages in current spending, advises the Asian Development Bank’s Asian Development Outlook 2017.
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Friday 31 March 2017
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a preliminary statement this week that Tonga’s “economic activity is expanding and likely to remain relatively strong into the next couple of years”. However, the IMF found that there was a lack of recent statistical information available such as government finance, inflation, balance of payments, and national accounts data for their assessment of economic development.
Thursday 26 January 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) or action plan to deliver financial services at affordable costs to Tongans is being developed by the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) and the National Reserve Bank of Tonga (NRBT) for the first time.
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Monday 12 December 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Economic forecasts show that while the Tongan economy is expected to grow by 3.1 % in the current financial year up to 30 June 2017, it will not maintain that growth rate.
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Sunday 30 October 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Asian Development Bank will increase its financial commitment to the Pacific Region in the coming years, said its Executive Director, Ms Swati Dandekar who visited Tonga with six Executive Directors from 25-29 October, on the 50th Anniversary of the ADB.
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Thursday 27 October 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga has decided to adopt daylight saving and will advance its clock one hour ahead on Sunday, November 6 for two-months, in order to allow more daylight hours in the evening during the longer summer days. The change will put Tonga 14 hours ahead of UTC during the summer.
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Thursday 23 June 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
In its latest state of the economy report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Tonga to improve its debt management, make broader reforms to increase revenue, and to effectively manage public spending. In the IMF's 2016 Article IV report released this week, Tonga was also encouraged to continue to seek concessional and grant financing for the South Pacific Games, while the report welcomed Tonga's efforts in curbing the wage bill and avoiding cost overruns. It urged Tonga to provide more opportunities for private sector development.
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Tonga weather forecast from yr.no, delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the NRK. See also Fua'amotu Weather Forecasting Center, Tonga, for latest local weather bulletin.