An MP in Tonga, who is a former secretary of finance, says foreign aid is filling the gap caused by a big decline in remittances.
Remittances from Tongans overseas have fallen by half in the past five years to 63 million US dollars.
The National Reserve Bank governor, Joyce Mafi, last week told business leaders that higher tourism receipts are not enough to offset falls in exports and remittances, while other sectors were struggling.
MP Aisake Eke says while there are some economic implications in the reduced income, the social effects are not great.
"To me even though there are some effects they are not really that serious because people are still having food to eat to keep them going daily. At the same time there is some revenue - even though remittances coming in [has fallen] but also the programmes that New Zealand and Australia provide in partnership with Tonga - employment schemes - pick up some of the slack."
