Prime Minister Marape Praises IMF's Positive Economic Forecast for Papua New Guinea
Prime Minister James Marape has expressed satisfaction with a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report projecting a positive economic outlook for Papua New Guinea.
The report anticipates that the nation’s economic growth will rise to 4.6 percent in 2024, up from 2.9 percent in 2023. This improvement is attributed to the recommencement of operations at the Porgera gold mine and favorable commodity prices.
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| Prime Minister Marape Praises IMF's Positive Economic Forecast for Papua New Guinea |
Additionally, the IMF report projects that inflation will return to its historical average of around 5 percent. Papua New Guinea’s gross international reserves were robust at US$3.9 billion by the end of 2023, equivalent to 6.6 months of total imports, providing ample capacity to continue central banking reforms.
“There are numerous encouraging indicators for our economic future,” Prime Minister Marape stated. “Although we have not yet reached our goals and still have significant work ahead, our fiscal consolidation efforts have been recognized, and the IMF supports our plan without imposing conditions.”
Prime Minister Marape noted that key projects such as Wafi-Golpu, Papua LNG, Pasca LNG, P’nyang, and PNG LNG post-2026 are not yet included in the current economic recovery model. "Our policy aims to achieve over 55 percent of the total economic value from all these projects combined," he remarked.
Refuting claims of a dire economic situation, Marape highlighted, “Our Treasurer, Ian Ling-Stuckey, under our administration, is committed to reducing debt to zero by 2033 and building a stronger K200-billion plus economy.”
Marape urged citizens to trust professional analyses over unqualified social media commentary. "We can discuss various issues, but without a robust and growing economy, we won’t have the funds to achieve our goals," he concluded.
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