BY CHARLES STENNETT
A combined Government improved revenue collection and reduced spending in June resulted in a 33 percent improvement totaling $428 million dollars, a $159 million dollars provisional operating surplus for the month from $40 million recorded in May.
According to the Central Bank of Solomon Islands’ (CBSI), Monthly Economic Bulletin for June, the total revenue surge is supported by higher collections from both tax revenue and non-tax revenue and a total expenditure declined by 4 percent to $269 million, primarily reflecting lower spending on goods and services.
The Bulletin also reported that Government’s debt stock also declined marginally by 0.6 percent to $4,520 million at the end of June 2026, largely reflecting debt servicing repayments.
It said domestic debt fell by 2 percent to $1,360 million, while external debt edged up slightly by 0.1 percent to $3,161 million, mainly due to exchange rate movements.
Debt servicing during the month totaled $85 million, consisting of $75 million in principal repayments and $10 million in interest payments.
In the domestic economy, the Bulletin said that significant monthly production declined in nearly all the exportable commodities except coconut oil and copra.
It said the outcome was primarily driven by a significant decline in the logging sector and mining, while the fishing sector remained unchanged.
These declines outweighed the increase recorded in agricultural sector in the previous month.
The Bulletin said production output declined across most commodities, led by round logs by 58 percent to 47 cubic meters, cocoa by 28 percent to 575 tons, minerals by 17 percent to 7,307 gold equivalent ounces, palm oil, by 11percent to 2,129 tons, and fish catch by 4 percent to 865 tons.
However, coconut oil increased by 63 percent to 596 tons while copra increased by 33 percent to 1621 tons.
In the same month, commodity prices showed lower prices for major export commodities including coconut oil by 10 percent to US$ 2,163 per ton, gold by 8 percent to US$4,228 per ounce, palm oil by 3 percent to US$ 1,105 per ton, fish by 2 percent to US$1685 per ton and round logs by 2 percent to US$185 per cubic meter and timber by 1 percent to US$727 per cubic meter.
However cocoa prices grew by 6 percent to US$4,400 per ton.
The CBSI Bulletin said that the trade in goods recorded a deficit of $79 million in June 2026, compared to a surplus of $177 million recorded in May.
It said the negative outcome was driven by a 30 percent increase in imports to $540 million, reflecting higher imports of food, machinery, manufactured goods and other imports.
Meanwhile, exports declined by 22 percent to $461 million, mainly due to lower exports of logs, minerals and agricultural products.
In terms of remittances, the Bulletin reported that in June 2026, remittance inflows processed through money transfer operators decreased by 15 percent to $34 million, while outward remittances also fell by 28 percent to $16 million. As a result, net remittances registered a surplus of $18 million, up from $17 million in the previous month.
The gross foreign reserves rose by 3 percent to $6,998 million in June 2026, supported by inflows from donors. This level of reserves is adequate to cover 18 months of imports of goods and services.
For feedback, contact: [email protected]
Editor: [email protected]
