Fiji, May 7 -- Fiji and Tonga have become the first Pacific developing member countries to give the Asia Development Bank (ADB) the greenlight to raise inshore and offshore bonds in their local currencies.

The two countries deposited their regulatory approval to the ADB at the 58th Annual Meeting, currently underway in Milan, Italy.

According to Annie Wang, the Assistant Treasurer at the ADB, Fiji had first sought approval in 2018.

"It's not a new approval for Fiji. In 2018, we requested Fiji to allow us to issue ADB's own debt security denominated in Fijian dollars in the international market. We found at that time it was difficult to raise it in the international market.

"There was a limited demand and our capability of converting t...