Remittances

Tonga household survey reveals 2021 remittance details

Using the results of the first batch of data, the recently completed Tongan household survey, which sampled 1,160 households and 7,359 individuals, researchers Ryan Edwards and Toan Nguyen (ANU) and economists Matthew Dornan and Dung Doan (WB) looked at who received remittances from whom, how much is received and what the funds are used for. 

Sending money home to the Pacific more often

In July 2021, ANZ customers in Australia and New Zealand sent 11,668 International Money Transfers to family and friends in the Pacific, worth AUD$ $13.1m (US$9.6 million), a 21 percent increase in volume when compared to the same period last year.

“In the Pacific, international money transfers - also known as remittances - are about more than money: they are about family, safety, culture, and community,” ANZ Regional Executive, Pacific, Tessa Price said.

South Pacific Central Bank Governors' committed to cost effective remittances

A key focus has been their collective effort to develop a regional ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) facility. The central banks, with support from the International Monetary Fund and other international agencies, have successfully completed an initial phase of work on a KYC facility for the South Pacific region.

New safe and secure Tongan scheme for remittances

Remittances make up a significant and growing part of the economies of some Pacific countries, including Tonga, but sending the money back can be costly and time consuming.

The bank's Silia Tupou said the Ave Pa' Anga Pau or Send Money Home voucher brings a lot of benefits.

Tonga most dependent in Pacific on remittances

In recent World Bank data shows remittances made up nearly 33 percent of Tonga's GDP in 2015.

This ranked it fourth in the world in terms of reliance on remittances.

18 percent of Samoa's GDP comes from remittances and 14 percent for the Marshall Islands.

Radio Tonga reports that about 12,000 Tongans are now working under Australia's Seasonal Worker Program and New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme.