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Wed, 28 Jul 2010
HONIARA, Solomon Islands ( SOLOMON STAR) --- Solomon Islands had recorded an increase employment for the first quarter of this month ending March this year by 1.8%.
This was revealed by the Central Bank in its report for the first quarter of this year.
“Employment proxied by the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) showed a 1.8% rise in new contributions,” the report said.
The report highlighted that workers registered under the formal payroll2, increased by 1.8 % to 48,385 members from the last quarter.
The report noted that more males are dominating the workforce especially in the logging industry.
Women only has 10 per cent in the workforce with a majority in the teaching sector.
“Classifications by gender and by industry indicate that the work force is dominated by males, making up 72% of the total workforce and employed in the logging industry.
“10% of the total working women populations are found in the Education services sector, the Bank said in the report.
Employment opportunities more than doubled in the quarter to 494 openings, as compared to 231 in the December 2009 quarter.
Most of these vacancies were for teaching positions which are usually on a contract basis, the report said.
Meanwhile, the first quarter of 2010 saw reserve money increase by 9.3% to $783.9 million, continuing the increase seen in the previous quarter.
That’s according to the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) in its report for the first quarter ending March released recently.
“The expansion of reserve money was due to increases in both the net foreign asset (NFA) and net domestic asset (NDA) position of the Central Bank during this period,” the report said.
The Bank in that report further stated that large unsterilised inflows from donors and from export receipts generated the 8.6% expansion in NFA.
“Net domestic assets (NDA) also rose by 8.6% in large part due to the increase in net credit to government.
“Growths in the level of currency in circulation and other depository corporations (ODC) demand deposits held with the Central Bank also contributed to the expansion of reserve money,” the report said.
It was also highlighted that currency in circulation increased by 3.9% to $338.8 million, whilst, demand deposits of the ODCs rose from $389.3 million to $489.6 million in this quarter.
“The expansion in reserve money is consistent with the moderately accommodative monetary policy stance currently adopted by the Bank, the report said.
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