Papua New Guinea Economy 1997

Economy - overview Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitationhas been hampered by the rugged terrain and the high cost of developing an infrastructure. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for the bulkof the population. Mineral deposits, including oil, copper, and gold, accountfor 72% of export earnings. Budgetary support from Australia and developmentaid under World Bank auspices have helped sustain the economy. In 1995, PortMoresby reached agreement with the IMF and World Bank on a structural adjustmentprogram, of which the first phase was successfully completed in 1996. A secondphase structural adjustment loan will be negotiated in 1997. The structuraladjustment program includes liberalization of trade and investment policies,sustainable development of the forestry sector, improvement of governmentplanning capacity and better delivery of public services. New gold and oilprojects are under development and planned to begin production in 1997 and1998 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 floatedthe kina on 10 October 1994

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Papua New Guinea on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Papua New Guinea Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Papua New Guinea Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.