Capital Markets

Although still fledgling, Papua New Guinea’s capital markets have strong prospects for growth as the economy looks forward to significant foreign currency inflows linked to the liquefied natural gas project and the development of new resource projects. With 13 dual-listed stocks on the exchange, share prices on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange are highly dependent on movements in foreign bourses, with a one to two day delay. PNG’s stock exchange is relatively shallow, with only 20 listed equities in total and one convertible note. The bourse has shown little growth since 2009, but, with prospects of a second major liquefied natural gas project and future mining deals, global investor appetite for frontier markets could broaden to PNG in coming years. Meanwhile, the strong growth in outstanding government bonds through primary auctions should generate enough momentum in PNG to launch a regulated secondary market in the near term. This chapter contains interviews with Richard Borysiewicz, General Manager, BSB Capital; and Ian Tarutia, CEO, National Superannuation Fund.