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The financial judgment of the ailing king of Tonga has again been called into question, five years after his tiny South Pacific nation lost millions of dollars to the world's only official court jester.

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV  has announced to his bemused subjects that an unnamed American bank wants to deposit US$1 billion in the country's coffers to fund development.

During a speech to Tonga's rubber-stamp Legislative Assembly, the 87-year-old monarch said talks were under way 'to bring a billion dollars to invest in Tonga to help fund many projects'.

Representatives from the bank would visit Tonga soon to assess how best to allocate the money, he said.

'Talks with this bank are for them to use the Reserve Bank of Tonga, to leave their money there. From this, we understand the value of the Tongan pa'anga [currency] will be stronger than it is today,' the king said during his address.

Once renowned as the world's heaviest monarch, King Tupou has an unfortunate record when it comes to striking financial deals with shady foreigners.

He entrusted US$26 million from a Tongan trust fund to an American former magnet salesman, Jesse Bogdonoff,  who allegedly squandered it after investing in life insurance policies for terminally ill Americans.

The king had been so impressed with the Buddhist convert that he had made him his official court jester.

In the past few months Tonga, one of the world's last absolutist monarchies, has been shaken by a five-week strike by public servants and growing calls for democracy. Thousands of people marched through the streets of the usually sleepy capital, Nuku'alofa.

Critics of the royal family said the supposed loan sounded more like a Nigerian-style e-mail scam.

'This is another one of the king's fantasies,' said Po'oi Pohiva, of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement,  which is pushing for greater representation for Tonga's 106,000 'commoners' and less power for the hereditary nobles who dominate parliament.

'He keeps talking about business ventures but they never happen. Among Tongans, there is a lot of confusion over this latest one,' Mr Pohiva said.

Futa Helu,  an  academic who has  predicted a popular revolt against the king and his Sandhurst-educated son Crown Prince Tupouto'a,  said: 'We're used to the king making such wild statements.'



US$1b gift too good to be true? Not if you're the king of Tonga