The Governor of Bank of Papua New Guinea has forecast a recovery for the country’s economy of 2.5 per cent after the sharp contraction of 2020. But he says the national budget and PNG’s foreign exchange reserves will remain under pressure.
Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG)
The Bank of Papua New Guinea has released its Quarterly Economic Bulletin for the March and June 2020 Quarters. It shows that the economy and government finances came under great pressure because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, but that the impact was uneven.
Peter Aitsi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Credit Corporation PNG, says the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on operations. He tells Business Advantage PNG that the company is moving to a more agile digital platform and diversifying its product range.
With the Marape government surviving a challenge late last year and vaccines for the COVID-19 virus starting to emerge, Business Advantage PNG considers what business in Papua New Guinea can expect from the year ahead.
LNG prices continue to surge and are now up by over a third this year. But oil prices eased and cocoa prices also fell slightly. Business Advantage PNG’s monthly review of commodity and financial markets.
In his latest Monetary Policy Statement, the Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, Loi Bakani, forecasts GDP will decline by four per cent in 2020 but rebound slightly next year. He also expressed concerns about changes to the Central Banking Act.
The Business Council of Papua New Guinea has present its latest macroeconomic outlook, which outlines the risks faced by PNG’s economy and what business needs to recover from the COVID-19 downturn.
The Bank of Papua New Guinea in its latest Monetary Policy Statement is predicting that the Papua New Guinea economy will not go into recession this year and there will be a strong recovery next year. But it says that the COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected many of the key sectors in the economy.
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The government’s COVID-19 bond was oversubscribed after the first week, according to Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey. He said over K1 billion was raised and that the money will help protect Papua New Guineans from the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic.