13 Aug 2008

Solomons Finance Minister says country's currency declining

10:56 am on 13 August 2008

The Solomon Islands Finance Minister has told parliament that increasing the value of the Solomons dollar is not feasible at this time.

The minister, Snyder Rini, was responding to calls by MPs to have the local dollar pegged to the currencies of the country's trading partners.

"Our foreign reserves is declining. So its not feasible to do that. We appreciate the Solomon Islands dollars. That means income from copra, the income from cocoa, income from timber and other export commodities."

Mr Rini was answering questions in relation to the 2007 annual report of the country's Central Bank.