Loi Bakani

Bakani: Five toea is still legal tender

Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, Loi Bakani clarified this today, saying lollies or anything else must not be given in place of a 5 toea when issuing change.

Governor Bakani said customers can inform the bank of any service provider short-changing them or refusing to give 5 toea as change, and they can be dealt with.

“There is an adequate supply of 5 toea coins in the banks, and even here at the Bank of PNG, that service providers or retail shop owners can get, so there is no reason for short-changing customers with 5 toeas,” Governor Bakani said.

Bakani maintains stance on political statements

Bakani was responding to Loop PNG’s questions regarding a statement released by former prime minister and economist, Sir Mekere Morauta, about Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) irresponsibly facilitating the government’s debt management.

Sir Mekere claimed that the latest data released by the BPNG shows that the central bank has been printing money for the government, fueling its wasteful spending.

However, Bakani told Loop PNG that he will not comment during this election period.

​Polye challenges Bakani to facilitate debate

In a media conference on Monday in Port Moresby, Polye said the statement from Bakani stopping politicians to talk about the country’s economy during this election is very shocking.

He said the statement is very irresponsible from someone who is supposed to be guiding the people and the Government of PNG.

“It’s the people’s right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech to discuss such issues.

“He should encourage families and government to talk about the budget and how well our economy is going.”

State agencies to undergo reform

Central Bank Governor Loi Bakani highlighted this in his 2016 December Quarterly Economic Bulletin.

He said Public sector reforms undertaken by the Government in 2017 are aimed at improving the quality of public sector spending.

However, he said the private sector will benefit from these reforms such as: encouraging competition through focusing on efficiency in the SOEs; removal of some regulatory requirements of doing business; supporting productivity in tourism and agriculture sectors; and facilitating the evolution of the financial services sector.

BPNG confirms release of K45m to Hela

Central Bank Governor Loi Bakani confirmed that to Loop PNG today.

Bakani clarified that the release of the levy was done only after the request was in compliance to the trust arrangement.

He added that as a banker, compliance to the arrangement that was put in place at the time of establishing the trust account is paramount and sufficient for them to effect the transaction.

"There are 2 trustees or signatories to the trust account and both have to sign."

BPNG warns on usage of paper notes

He advised that the people must be on look out for various security features as detailed on the K50 and K100 posters before accepting them. I

“If any of these security features do not appear on the banknotes given to you, do not accept it.

“Be alert and don’t be fooled by accepting any paper banknotes.”

Bakani added that the Bank is aware that there are PAPER BANKNOTES in the hands of some people attempting to exchange them for polymer banknotes.

IMF Report is inaccurate: Bakani

“The report did not accurately cover the performance of the PNG economy, as a number of serious errors were noted in the report,” Bakani stated in statement.

The six areas that the country’s central bank disagreed to, resulting in the delay of approving the release of IMF Report since October 2016 are, debt-to-GDP ratio, months of import cover, no breach of Article VIII, tax  clearance certificate, foreign exchange market and IMF visit staff report.  

Total Government debt at K19m

Central Bank Governor in his September Quarterly Monthly Bulletin revealed that the domestic loans increased while external loans decreased.

He said the increase in domestic debt was largely attributed to net new issuance of Government securities, while the decrease in external debt reflected the loan repayments.

Bakani further added that the total amount of Government deposits at the depository corporations increased by K146.2 million to K2,652.7 million in September 2016, compared to June 2016.

BPNG warns about fast money schemes

The Bank in a media statement strongly advised the public against putting money in fast money schemes/ scams, as they are illegal and fraudulent.

Governor Loi Bakani said people who place their money with promoters or agents of these money schemes/scams risk losing their hard earned cash.

“Before you make decision to be a member of any scheme, you must understand the products and services being promoted, who the shareholders are, the means by which registration is done and the terms and conditions for you to be a member.

Bakani calls for tougher revenue measures

Bakani, in his Quarterly Economic Bulletin also reiterated his call for Government departments and agencies to live within their means while maintaining critical services for the public.

He said the level of foreign exchange reserves as of Dec 30, 2016, was K5,266.9 (US$1,685.4) million, compared to K5,467.5 (US$1,725.1) million at the end of September, 2016.

Bakani explained that the Government’s decline in revenue in 2016 is due to low commodity prices and low tax collections.

He said both revenue and expenditure have been lower than budgeted for in 2016.