| Papua New Guinea |
| Economy - overview: Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but
exploitation has been hampered by the rugged terrain and the high cost of
developing an infrastructure. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood
for the bulk of the population. Mineral deposits, including oil, copper,
and gold, account for 72% of export earnings. Budgetary support from Australia
and development aid under World Bank auspices have helped sustain the economy.
In 1995, Port Moresby reached agreement with the IMF and World Bank on a
structural adjustment program, of which the first phase was successfully
completed in 1996. A second phase structural adjustment loan will be negotiated
in 1997. The structural adjustment program includes liberalization of trade
and investment policies, sustainable development of the forestry sector,
improvement of government planning capacity and better delivery of public
services. New gold and oil projects are under development and planned to
begin production in 1997 and 1998 respectively. GDP: purchasing power parity - $10.7 billion (1996 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 2.3% (1996 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,400 (1996 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture : 27% industry: 42% services: 31% Inflation rate - consumer price index: 6% (1996 est.) Labor force: total: 1.941 million by occupation: agriculture 64% (1993 est.) Unemployment rate: NA% Budget: revenues: $1.5 billion expenditures: $1.35 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) Industries: copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining of gold, silver, and copper; crude oil production; construction, tourism Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity - capacity: 252,000 kW (1992) Electricity - production: 1.71 billion kWh (1994) Electricity - consumption per capita: 382 kWh (1995 est.) Agriculture - products: coffee, cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels, tea, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables; poultry, pork Exports: total value: $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 1995 est.) commodities: gold, copper ore, oil, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, lobster partners : Australia, Japan, US, Singapore, New Zealand Imports: total value: $1.3 billion (c.i.f., 1995 est.) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals partners : Australia, Japan, UK, New Zealand, Netherlands Debt - external: $3.2 billion (1995) Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $291 million (1993); $240 million bilateral aid from Australia (FY96/97 est.); $4.1 million ODA from NZ (FY95/96) Currency: 1 kina (K) = 100 toea Exchange rates: kina (K) per US$1 - 0.7451 (December 1996), 0.7588 (1996), 0.7835 (1995), 0.9950 (1994), 1.0221 (1993), 1.0367 (1992); note - the government floated the kina on 10 October 1994 Fiscal year: calendar year |