Governor Loi Bakani

East Sepik Governor, Allan Bird, recently outlined in a Parliament sitting that ordinary citizens are “harshly dealt with by the banking system” when it comes to depositing large sums of money. He drew attention to the cash-based informal sector, where 80 percent of Papua New Guineans operate in.

Bakani agreed with Bird’s sentiments, saying: “If the commercial banks know the profile of the company, and if they’re producing documents to justify the deposits they’re making, they shouldn’t be asking more questions.”

This is attributed to improvements in commodity prices and higher production of most of PNG’s major exports, mainly from the mineral sector, contributing to higher growth in 2017, than the previous year.

This is stated in the Bank of PNG’s Quarterly Economic Bulletin for December 20017.

According to the report, this outcome is a result of higher surplus in the current account, which more than offset a deficit in the capital and financial account.

PNG National Party Leader and Member for Sinasina-Yongomugl, Kerenga Kua, dismissed the views expressed last month by the Bank of PNG Governor, Loi Bakani, that political candidates should refrain from commenting on the economy.

“Freedom of expression is a Constitutional right and the performance of the economy remains of paramount concern to the people of Papua New Guinea and for my Party,” Kua said.  

“This, together with the performance of the Government and indeed of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, occupies a central position in the election debates.

Governor Loi Bakani told Loop PNG that the Central Bank will release that statement soon.

IMF Article IV was released in November 2016, but to date the National Government has not responded to the article.

The National Government must respond to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Report to dismiss speculations about the country’s economy.

The Bank of Papua New Guinea Governor Loi Bakani stated in its Monetary Policy Statement for the month of September 2016.

The statement showed that the inflation continues to increase since last year.  

“Annual headline inflation was 6.8 per cent in the June quarter of 2016, up from 6.5 per cent recorded in the March quarter of 2016, and 6.4 per cent in the December quarter of 2015.

The Bank of Papua New Guinea Governor Loi Bakani stated in its Monetary Policy Statement for the month of September 2016.    

According to today’s Bank South Pacific Exchange Rate, K100 will give you US$ 26.50 and AUS$ 34.71.

The Kina dropped by 9.5 per cent in a space of 12 months.   

“PNG continued to experienced low export commodity prices during the nine months to September 2016. These resulted in low foreign exchange inflows and lower Government revenue,” Governor Bakani stated in the policy statement.