Minister Michael Nali said the Department of Works is managing 250 existing contracts worth K4 billion, but that budget is insufficient to see all of them through to completion. He said this number comes from workers hired by the government, but it may be higher. He was speaking at a road opening in Lae last week. “That number of contractors is wort...

Commodity prices are expected to remain low leading to large losses of exports for Papua New Guinea further adding to a dim global and domestic scenario amid a second wave of the covid-19 pandemic. This is despite the fact, commodity prices for PNG’s exports recovered in the third quarter of 2020 in response to an acceleration of industry activity glob...

More and more women are venturing into fields predominantly held by men as PNG’s formal economy grows, hence increasing the need to widen the safety lens and address aspects of women’s safety that have typically received very little attention. The Gender Smart Safety (GSS) training program offered by the Business Coalition for Women (BCFW), is an innovati...

At its General Meeting on April 15th in Port Moresby, Kina Securities Limited (KSL) shareholders unanimously voted in favour of Kina Bank's takeover of Westpac PNG and Westpac Fiji. CEO Greg Pawson said in a statement that the shareholders' vote of confidence was "amazing." “We are very excited about this opportunity, and creating a stronger and mor...

PNG DataCo Data Center is on track to open next month, according to chief executive officer Paul Komboi. He said that the data centre's planning and physical work are over, but the technological and engineering work is still ongoing. A data centre is a set of components rather than a single thing. Servers, computing subsystems, networking switches, rou...

The economy will stay slow, according to NASFUND CEO Ian Tarutia, if the Wafi-Golpu project in Morobe and the P'nyang project in Western is further postponed. During an online employer conference, Tarutia said that the announcement of the Porgera mine reopening had given the superfund hope. “It is very positive news,” he said. “We want to see mem...

Ishmael Toroama, the President of Bougainville, argued that important industry markets are lacking in rewards. As a result, he wanted to amend the legislation to make industries like mining, fishing, irrigation, manufacturing, and tourism more attractive to investors. According to Toroama, rewriting the Inward Investment Act would greatly boost Boug...

Subprojects funded by the Asian Development Bank's multi-tranche funding facility loans for the Civil Aviation Development Investment Program (CADIP) advancement are on schedule to be completed within the facility's availability span. The multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) is one of the ADB's modalities for assisting clients with their medium to lo...

Prime Minister James Marape unveiled the Ihu special economic zone (Isez) in Kikori, Gulf, as part of the district's other impact projects. Soroi Eoe, Kikori MP and Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Michael Nali, Works Minister Michael Nali with his department secretary David Wereh, William Samb, Central Governor Robert Agarobe, and Gulf Governor Chr...

The Internal Revenue Commission's (IRC) Commissioner General, Sam Koim, said that the IRC will advise the government on lowering the Salaries and Wages Tax (SWT) if they raise enough revenue through the successful collection, especially through the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Koim said that they would make the recommendation until the National Govern...

According to the Bank of PNG's (BPNG) jobs index, structured private sector employment fell by 5.5 per cent in the September quarter of 2020, relative to a 1.3 per cent growth in the June quarter of 2020. This was recently illustrated in BPNG's quarterly economic bulletin for the September quarter. BPNG Governor Loi Bakani said that jobs dropped by ...

If the planned takeover of Westpac's Pacific company is authorised, Kina Bank said the new bank would have a new name and would be independent of Kina to increase banking sector competitiveness and consumer preference. Kina's plan, according to Chief Executive Officer Greg Pawson, is to establish a new-branded bank for the nation that is independent an...

If COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the government is considering a lockdown from the new Isolation Strategy. People are not listening or complying with the Niupla Pasin policies, according to Rainbo Paita, the Leader of Government Business. As a result, Cabinet has had to take drastic measures to save lives. “Another main factor is because people a...

Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey has started talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the goals for the ADB's $US2.2 billion in funding over the next four years. After a virtual meeting with ADB country director David Hill, the treasurer said the Marape Government needed to continue its emphasis on the war on coronavirus while also developing the found...

With the outstanding amount of government debt owed to the sector, pending landowner fees, and rising law and order woes, businesses are concerned about 2022. According to Chey Scovell, chief executive officer of the PNG Manufacturers Board, conversations within the business community revealed that the government owed companies more than K2 billion. ...

The Papua New Guinea Securities Commission has placed a new levy for all trades on the PNG Stock Exchange, the country's stock market (PNGX). The Securities Commission adopted the new levy on February 8 and it went into effect on March 8, according to PNGX chairman David Lawrence. Each buyer and seller are expected to pay an extra 0.75 per cent of the ...