Photo Credit: Oxford Business Group
According to ANZ PNG managing director Mark Baker, the country's long-term survival rests on diversifying its economic base to allow agriculture and manufacturing to thrive.
Baker stated that it will need increased investment in infrastructure, particularly roads and power.
“The source of that significant investment can come from the economic benefits that major resources do bring,” he told The National. “The announcement of progress on Papua LNG is very welcome.
“It will be important that all parties involved in the project reach an agreement early to allow the project to enter front end engineering and design (Feed) in 2022 and final investment decision (FID) in 2023.
“This has the potential to make a significant and positive impact across the PNG economy from 2023 onwards.”
Baker said that the Wafi-Golpu project has the potential to have a significant and good impact on the economy in general and Morobe in particular, "as well as strengthening international investor confidence."
While foreign currency reserves have remained reasonably stable, he said the availability of foreign currencies to the market remained a challenge for PNG's import-dependent economy.
“This was exacerbated by the extended shutdown at Porgera which is a major supplier of foreign currency to the market.”
Governor Loi Bakani of the Bank of PNG (BPNG) has stated that the country's foreign reserves are at US$2.5 billion (K8.92bil).
Foreign exchange inflows this year, according to Bakani, were mostly from overseas government borrowings, while outflows were mostly from overseas government debt repayments.
Reference:
Luma, Dale. The National (27 May, 2021). “Expanding economy for agri, manufacturing vital”.
