A proposal to reduce the salary of Tonga’s Members of Parliament by 20-per cent has been unsuccessful.
Prime Minister, Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa, proposed the pay cut in the House of Pesi and it did not survive the final stage of the National Budget debate.
The savings from the pay cut would have contributed towards Tonga’s response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Finance, Tevita Lavemaau congratulated members for their hard work, and reminded them that they still had one week and two days before the end of the month, 30 June, which is the end of the 2019-20 Financial Year.
Budget allocations for government ministries that were passed by the Tongan Parliament on Thursday, 18 June include:
Palace Office - $3,669,100, Office of the Ombudsman - $1,547,900, Legislative Assembly - $13,770,000, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - $10.66m, Ministry of Finance - $166m, Ministry for Agriculture, Food, Forests - $13.4m. For Fisheries - $9.8m, Ministry for Infrastructure and Tourism - $25.18m, Ministry for Land and Natural Resources - $12.6m, Ministry for Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment Climate Change and Communications - $57m, The Auditor General - $2.1m., inistry for Police, Fire and Emergency Service - $15.2m, Ministry for Education and Training - $73.3m, Ministry for Health - $70.6m.
The national budget is yet to be specified for other ministries such as Public Enterprises, Trade and Economic Development, Justice and Prisons.