Asia Economy

Although the Port Moresby Stock Exchange ( POMSox) has been capable of offering debt instruments for some time, the debt market is largely undeveloped in Papua New Guinea. The government’s local-currency issues are illiquid, it has not yet issued an international bond and there is currently only one corporate debt instrument on the POMSoX. There is little available...

Of all the sub-sectors within Papua New Guinea’s financial system, the capital markets are the least mature. The banks are strong, growing and becoming increasingly competitive. The insurance sector has been active for more than a century and is substantial for a developing country. The superannuation funds are large, stable and vital to PNG society. On the other hand,...

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 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.

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.