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...
The banks of the Asia-Pacific region have been subject to successive waves of regulatory changes in recent years. Remaining compliant with strengthened anti-money laundering rules, know-your-customer guidelines and a raft of sustainability and transparency initiatives proved to be a resource-consuming process for the region’s lending institutions.
Despite a tight supply of foreign exchange and a slowdown in economic growth in 2018, Papua New Guinea’s banking sector remained well capitalised and registered a robust performance, aided by supportive policies from both the government and the Bank of PNG (BPNG), the country’s central bank. The successful issuance in September 2018 of the country’s first dollar-denominated...
Papua New Guinea issued its first sovereign dollar-denominated bond in September 2018, a major achievement for the island nation. Ongoing structural reform and market-focused policies played a key role in attracting foreign capital that year, and the $500m instrument has since led to a steady flow of dollars into the market. In addition to increasing foreign exchange reserves...
Efforts to improve the business environment and promote private investment in non-extractive sectors ramped up in 2018 with a new development plan and clearer fiscal priorities. Prior to the pickup in international commodity prices that year, a lengthy downturn in global demand, weak agriculture performance and production halts at key mines weighed heavily on revenue. In...
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