New Zealand to review aid to Kiribati after the Pacific Island nation snubs an official's visit New Zealand is reconsidering all development funding to the aid-dependent island nation of Kiribati, following a diplomatic snub from the island nation's leader, government officials said Monday.
About 10% of development finance that year came from New Zealand — which contributed 102 million New Zealand dollars ($58 million) between 2021 and 2024, official figures show.
The unusual move to review all finance to Kiribati was prompted by the abrupt cancellation of a planned meeting this month between President Taneti Maamau and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, Peters' office told The Associated Press on Monday.
It followed months of growing frustration from Australia and New Zealand — jointly responsible for more than a third of overseas development finance to Kiribati in 2022 — about a lack of engagement with the island nation.
The bond between Kiribati — population 120,000 — and its near neighbor New Zealand, a country of 5 million people, might not appear the South Pacific's most significant.
