WBG Governor's Statement No. 13 - Statement by the Hon. Tevita Lavemaau, Governor for Tonga at the 2020 Annual Meetings - COVID-19 Response and Fiscal Support

Jul 19, 2026

Statement by the Hon. Tevita Lavemaau, Governor for Tonga at the 2020 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF. The address thanks WBG and IMF leadership, highlights the COVID-19 global shock, and describes impacts on human capital, trade, and essential services. For Tonga, it details remaining COVID-19 free status alongside severe growth and tourism effects, employment losses, and fiscal revenue shortfalls, then outlines stimulus measures and requests grants to create fiscal space for recovery amid debt risk and climate pressures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

WBG Governor's Statement No. 13

Opening and acknowledgements

Challenging time: global impacts of COVID-19

Tonga: impacts and responses

Fiscal policy and stimulus package

Request for multilateral support

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized WBG Governor's Statement No. 13 October 15, 2020 Statement by the Hon. TEVITA LAVEMAAU, Governor of the Bank for TONGA Statement by the Hon. Tevita Lavemaau, Governor of the Bank for Tonga Mr. Chairman, Mr. President of the World Bank Group, Madame Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Fellow Governors, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is truly a great honour and privilege for me, as Minister of Finance and Governor of the Bank and the Fund for Tonga, to have this opportunity to address the International Monetary Fund (IMF or Fund) and World Bank Group (Bank or WBG) Joint Board of Governors 2020 Virtual Annual Meetings on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga. During these unprecedented challenging times due to COVID-19 pandemic, I wish to convey my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Mr. President David Malpass and Madame Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and both their entire management teams, for their significant contributions and astral leadership at the helm of our Bretton Woods institutions. This has facilitated quick response and special attention towards the developing member countries including Tonga to address the socio-economic fallout from the pandemic, and pave the way for a resilient and inclusive recovery, amid the rising debt burden of vulnerable small island developing states and escalating climate change and natural disasters risks. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to the scores of lives and loved ones across the world, that have been lost during this pandemic. We wish to acknowledge with solidarity all those working tirelessly on the front lines fighting the pandemic. Challenging Time The global economy continues to experience an exceptional negative shock due to the continuous spread of COVID-19 cases and the lack of clear solutions of this pandemic. Member countries have been facing extraordinary needs due to weak health systems, limited fiscal space, and heavy dependence on remittances as a source of income. In addition, the severity of climate change, fragility and high poverty level have limited member countries’ options to respond to the COVID-19 and even so with developing economies. The pandemic has disrupted global trade, supply chains and investment flows. It has left financial and human capital idle, while remittances, transport revenues, and income from tourism have rapidly diminished. In addition, steep drops in commodity prices have harmed commodity-dependent economies. The pandemic has profoundly impacted human capital, including lives, learning, basic wellbeing, and future productivity. Disruptions in the delivery of essential services and food, combined with employment and income loss for households, are evidently devastating. The pandemic has caused most major economies to lose at least 2.4 percent of the value of their gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 , with potential scarring effects on employment and growth prospects for all countries. In the US for example, the initial jobless claims averaging nearly one million over the four weeks leading to mid-September, well above its peak during the global financial crisis. Although most Pacific Island countries are still COVID-19 free, according to recent projections, the Pacific economies are projected to contract by 5 to 10 percent this year. Tonga: COVID-19 Impact and Responses To date, Tonga still remains COVID-19 free which we are very pleased about. However, Tonga’s main challenge is its human and financial resources to deal with the pandemic. Tonga’s economy is severely impacted with the forecast now of negative 3.0 percent for FY2019/20 and negative 5.8 percent in FY2020/21 . The tourism and associated sectors have been significantly affected due to the closure of Tonga’s border as well as the damages of tourist facilities from Tropical Cyclone (TC) Harold. There has been loss of emp

FAQs

What global conditions does the statement describe during the COVID-19 pandemic?

It describes an exceptional negative shock to the global economy, disruption to trade and supply chains, weakened health systems and limited fiscal space, and major losses in human capital and essential services delivery.

How does the statement characterize Tonga’s situation regarding COVID-19?

Tonga remains COVID-19 free, but the country faces major human and financial resource constraints and severe economic impacts, especially through border closure and damages affecting tourism and related sectors.

What fiscal actions and support does the statement call for?

The statement outlines revenue shortfalls, prudent spending controls, a stimulus package largely funded by grants, and requests support from the WBG and IMF to encourage grants that expand fiscal space without increasing debt distress.

Jul 19, 2026

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