Prime Minister James Marape recently stated that the Country has over K12 Billion in Foreign Reserves sitting in the Bank of Papua New Guinea which is the highest Foreign Reserve for the country ever. Marape said this is the Fiscal Policy intervention that the Government is concerned with and the power to make interventions on foreign exchange remains with the Central Bank.
This comes to light after Deputy Opposition Leader Douglas Toumeriesa had recently reiterated calls by businesses and corporate entities within the private sector that the government has not done enough to address the foreign exchange shortage in the country. Toumeriesa added that the Government cannot continue to blame the Russian-Ukraine War for the country's economic setbacks and warned that 70 percent of tax on the forest industry will worsen the shortage in foreign exchange.
In response to these statements on foreign reserves, PM Marape said as a government they have done their part in terms of fiscal policy, and it is now up to the Central Bank to intervene as it is an independent body.
"The governments concern is in our Fiscal Policy and interventions that have been made in our economy has seen the increase in foreign reserves in the Central Bank which is also the highest ever foreign reserves that our country has ever experienced".
"We have over K12 billion sitting at the Central Bank as reserves and the equivalent of that is held as US Dollars for the Central Bank to make interventions on the market".
"The Governments Fiscal Policy Interventions have ensured that we have reached this mark in terms of our reserves. It is now up to the Central Bank to ensure that initiatives to reach foreign exchange demands in the market are in place as it is an independent body from the control of the executive Government. That is how our law is stated and I cannot change this structure," PM Marape said.
The Prime Minister also called on the Governor of the Central Bank to work with the commercial banks to allow the regular supply of the trading currency which is the US Dollar to be made regularly available to the market.
