In a country where 70% of the population work in rural communities, and around a quarter of all citizens live below the poverty line, microfinance is one of the few available sources for personal and business funding. Myanmar’s microfinance institutions (MFIs) are thus a vital part of efforts to boost access to credit. Indicators of financial...
Papua New Guinea has made strides in recent years to expand its capital markets and promote liquidity. However, the performance of the country’s stock exchange – which changed its name from the Port Moresby Stock Exchange to PNGX Markets (PNGX) in July 2019 – has been affected by a series of economic disruptions. The 7.5-magnitude earthquake that struck PNG in February 2018...
Insurance has an important role to play in disaster and climate risk management in Papua New Guinea, helping to ease the fiscal burden of extreme events such as earthquakes and floods. Timely and predictable payouts after such events can be highly beneficial in terms of improving investor security; however, current insurance penetration rates remain low.
With a low penetration rate of below 2%, Papua New Guinea’s insurance sector has significant growth potential. The economy is expected to benefit from a range of new extractive projects and this, coupled with growing awareness about the benefits of insurance coverage, is set to increase demand. However, some notable challenges will need to be addressed to ensure the long-term...
Two of the biggest trends in global insurance in recent years are premium growth in emerging markets and the rising importance of technology across the supply chain. The latter has come to be referred to as insurtech, a potentially disruptive trend that heralds both threats to and opportunities for incumbents and newcomers alike. While technological solutions are being applied...
In an effort to diagnose limitations across Papua New Guinea’s banking industry, a joint review team has conducted a comprehensive health check of the financial ecosystem. Following a series of intensive studies by the World Bank and IMF beginning in 2011, as well as efforts by the Department of Treasury and the Bank of PNG (BPNG), bottlenecks were identified in a handful of...
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