Puma Energy (PNG) Country Manager, Jim Collings, says consistent cooperation is needed to address the foreign exchange issue in the country.
In an interview with Loop PNG Collings said they are working very closely with key agencies to address the problem whilst maintaining normal flow of operations.
“We work very closely with the central bank and obviously the commercial banks to ensure that we are maintaining flows of currency to pay for our crude, and our finished products that we bring into the country,” he said.
“It’s critical that we continue to maintain that, but it’s not easy for it. There is no silver bullet to fix the issues, but as I said , the key thing is that the dialogue is happening every day that we’re working on solutions that may take a while to come to fruition but we’re certainly driving those hard and were working collegially again with the agencies and their banks to deliver that. We’ve still got a way to go and it’s going to be tough for some time.”
Collings, however, is optimistic about the future and shares similar sentiments with other sectors of the business community.
“Certainly we see some light at the end of the tunnel 18 months out. But we need to work together to manage our way through that next 18 months very closely,” he said.