Reserve Bank’s 2026 AGM Building a More Resilient Central Bank

Reserve Bank’s 2026 AGM Building a More Resilient Central Bank

Reserve Bank’s 2026 AGM Building a More Resilient Central Bank

Tonga’s Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua and the new Finance Minister Hon. Sivoki Lavemaau attended the NRBT 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday 1st October 2026. The meeting considered the Annual Report 2026 and audited annual financial statements for the same period by KPMG (Fiji) who issued another clean unqualified audit opinion in FY2026 including a net profit after tax of $26.6 million, above its five-year average, reflecting continued sound financial management and a resilient balance sheet.

Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua received the FY2026 Profit Distribution from Lord Sevele, Chair of NRBT Board.

NRBT maintained external stability with the nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) broadly stable over the last 5 years whilst the real effective exchange rate (REER) was driven by higher domestic inflation relative to our trading partners whilst our foreign reserves remained adequate with over 11 months of imports. Governor Moeaki stated that “Price stability remained the most significant challenge, as higher imported petroleum prices and other external cost pressures passed through to the domestic economy, contributing to inflation rising above the Bank’s 5% reference rate reaching 7.1% at the end of June 2026.”

The meeting noted NRBT has advanced major reforms to strengthen its resilience and effectiveness, including modernizing the monetary policy framework, progressing national payment-system reforms, strengthening prudential supervision and banking standards, and enhancing AML/CFT supervision, compliance and enforcement. These reforms are intended to strengthen NRBT’s capacity to safeguard price, external and financial stability of Tonga’s increasingly challenging external environment.