Despite much that is good in the 2015 Budget, the Papua New Guinea government’s medium-term fiscal plans are a concern, writes Paul Flanagan, former senior executive in the Australian Treasury, and advisor to the PNG Treasury from 2011 to 2013. Papua New Guinea is facing growing economic problems, with foreign exchange controls hurting businesses and printing money possibly starting inflationary pressures, so getting fiscal policy right in this budget was absolutely vital for the country’s

Pacific leaders have been the recipients of largesse from India’s Prime Minister and China’s President, who met in Fiji last week. Meanwhile, a new ANZ report details the increasingly close links between China’s aid and its investment in the Pacific. China’s President Xi Jinping met with the leaders of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Micronesia, Cook Islands and Niue on the first state visit to Fiji by a Chinese leader. It followed the

Air Niugini is looking to expand its services to other Melanesian countries from 2015, and possibly China in coming years. The plans follow the launch of its new low-cost domestic subsidiary, Link PNG, which has implications for other state-owned enterprises. Air Niugini’s chairman Sir Frederick Reiher made the announcement of more international flights, as he handed over a K100,000 sponsorship cheque for the Melanesian Spearhead Group Trade and Investment Roadshow and Fair, (which will be

The two new players in Papua New Guinea’s TV industry this week began selling their set top boxes as they launched a total of 54 new free-to-air and pay channels. Global telecommunications giant Digicel this week launched Digicel Play, which will offer 29 channels by the end of 2014, while the new entrant to the PNG market, Click TV, launched its own set top box, which will offer 25 channels through its local network, PNG

The Papua New Guinea Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch has presented a record K16.2 billion national budget for 2015, but with an increased deficit to K2.272 billion. In his Budget speech, Pruaitch forecasts the economy to grow by 15.5 per cent ‘driven by a full calendar year of gas production and supported by a rebound in the non-mining sectors’. It will be PNG’s 14th successive year of economic growth. ‘PNG is among of a handful of nations

Despite the debate around the boom, there is little doubt that Australian exporters are under pressure – with a declining iron ore price, increased production volumes from lower-cost producers, long-term decline in ore grades, and an increase in the level of impurities for junior miners making an impact. This has put cost reduction in the spotlight, with sustainable policies covering operational efficiency and cost rationalisation more important than ever for both miners and mining service

Allcom PNG and mcr PNG have become the latest technology services companies in Papua New Guinea to consolidate after announcing a merger that will see the enlarged entity realise a number of operational synergies. Business Advantage PNG talks to Luke Byer, Managing Director of the new entity. Growing demand for information and communications technology (ICT) in Papua New Guinea has provided Allcom PNG and mcr PNG with the incentive to merge into one of the

PAPUA New Guinea Ports Corporation has completed the berth 3 extension project at the country’s largest and busiest port. The new port facility at Lae will be used for berthing of construction cargo vessels for mining in the Morobe and Highlands areas. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill officially opened the Lae port overseas wharf extension and commended PNG Ports for their efforts as work continues into the second phase, including the commissioning of the Lae Tidal