Papua New Guinea PRIME Minister James Marape says the country has been able to post positive growth despite no new resource projects coming on line.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has indicated that the country’s economy will grow by 3.4 per cent this year and 4.6 per cent next year.
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| PNG Prime Minister Marape remains upbeat about state of economy |
Marape said the Government was managing a K51 billion debt to GDP (gross domestic product) which included K39 billion in debts left by the previous administration.
“That’s the way we are tracking in our economy,” Marape said.
“I just want to encourage our people out there, not all is bad as it may seem.
“Without any new projects, while Porgera is coming on and others are coming on, we are still able to post a positive growth rate however small it may be but we are still posting significant growth over the last two to three years of managing our economy.
“We are rebounding at extraordinary times, hard times, Coronavirus-induced and now with the Russia-Ukraine war induced hard times.
“In a K51 billion debt to GDP level in hard times and many nations globally also have higher debt to GDP but for us it’s manageable.
“We are on a fiscal consolidation pathway going forward.
“The way we are posting positive growth this year at 3.4 per cent, next year at 4.6 per cent as forecasted by ADB, its an indication to our country that we are managing our economy responsibly, making interventions at the flow of the economy especially where people, the ordinary Papua New Guineans are facing hard times.”
According to the ADB’s economic outlook for 2022, PNG’s economy recovered in 2021 on the back of the agriculture, forestry and fisheries which expanded by 3.7 per cent.
Increased production of palm oil, cocoa and coffee was stimulated by rising global commodity prices and resolution of trade bottlenecks. Log and fish production changed a little from 2020.
The ADB forecasts that the country’s economy will grow steadily as mineral extraction picks up and more normal global economic conditions return.
The National / Pacific Business News