Asia Economy

The government of Papua New Guinea has rolled out a new plan to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by improving access to finance and training.

Papua New Guinea will be looking for non-resource growth to steer the economy forward in 2016, as the government steps up efforts to return the budget to a surplus by 2020.

With an eye on boosting international trade relations and broadening exports, Indonesia is ramping up efforts to seal a raft of global trade agreements.

Amid concerns that Brunei Darussalam’s budget deficit could exceed earlier forecasts, Pehin Dato Abd Rahman Ibrahim, the second minister of finance, delivered a precautionary speech in January, emphasising the importance of public spending cuts.

A decisive victory for the opposition in Myanmar’s general elections in late 2015 generated a fresh wave of investor optimism, raising hopes of increased economic stability in 2016 after a somewhat uncertain year.

The Malaysian economy continued to expand throughout 2015, shaking off falling commodity prices, weaker growth in China and a sharp depreciation of the local currency.