With a strong economy in recent years, the GDP growth rate rose to a high of 8.9% in 2011, after stagnating in the early 2000s, only to fall back in 2013 to around 5% and then rise again to more than 8.4% in 2014, according to the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG), the central bank. Construction work on the PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project...
The banking sector in Papua New Guinea is sound, growing and remarkably profitable. Its largest and only publicly traded institution, BSP, reports return on equity 10 percentage points higher than the large Australian banks, which are among the most profitable in the world. Continued expansion is expected. With 80% of the country unbanked,...
THE COMPANY: Bank South Pacific (BSP) is the leading bank of the South Pacific, holding the largest branch network in Papua New Guinea with over 60 branches throughout the country including its operations in Fiji and Solomon Islands. BSP has total assets valued at PGK15.9bn ($6bn),...
On paper, the 2015 budget, delivered in late 2014, was a solid financial plan. It anticipated PGK13.9bn ($5.3bn) in revenues and called for PGK16.2bn ($6.1bn) in expenditures, leading to a high but manageable 4.4% budget deficit.
Though the country may appear to lack liquidity, Papua New Guinea may have billions of kina hidden outside the banking system. According to Tony Westaway, managing director of Nationwide Microbank, residents tend to store cash at home, or hide large sums underground in bamboo pipes and in tin cans. The reasons are many: some people do not...
Papua New Guinea established a sovereign wealth fund in 2012, and while the original law was delayed and greatly revised, it is set to be implemented by mid-2015, with the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) proceeds flowing into the fund by 2016.
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