Papua New Guinea in 2016

Asian Survey ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald May
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
University Students ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Liquefied Natural Gas ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Step Down

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill came under continuing pressure to step down pending resolution of corruption charges but resisted demands from university students and civil society groups and convincingly defeated a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Papua New Guinea experienced a further decline in GDP growth and faced landowner threats to shut down liquefied natural gas production.

Papua New Guinea politics will enter brittle stability

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Liquefied Natural Gas ◽  
Infrastructure Investment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Cost

Subject The outlook for politics and the economy in Papua New Guinea. Significance Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has consolidated his government since winning elections in mid-2017. However, economic growth in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has slowed, forcing the government to rein in its spending plans. A 19-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has not generated the expected fiscal windfall, with most of the revenue still needed to repay the cost of the earlier infrastructure investment. Impacts Links with China are likely to strengthen after President Xi Jinping's visit next month. O'Neill will consolidate his position through the courts and police. Bougainville cannot afford independence unless it can negotiate with mining firms to reopen the Panguna copper mine.

Papua New Guinea may encounter 'resource curse'

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Recent Policy ◽  
Economic Outlook

Subject The economic outlook for Papua New Guinea. Significance Rating agency Moody’s on March 23 shifted Papua New Guinea (PNG) to 'negative watch', a further indication of the economic challenges facing the re-elected Peter O’Neill government as it prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November this year. PNG in February suffered its largest earthquake for nearly a century in areas surrounding the largest resource projects in the country. Impacts Despite a planned major expansion in LNG production, recent policy decisions suggest a troubled business environment. Reversals in economic policy, combined with the earthquake, will further depress GDP growth. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is weaving together a large coalition which should cement his position until at least after APEC. Foreign exchange shortages will harm growth and discourage investment, due to fears that firms cannot pay dividends to foreign shareholders.

scholarly journals Standoff in Papua New Guinea: Students take issue over corruption

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Emily Matasororo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
News Media ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Tertiary Student ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
The Government ◽  
The University ◽  
Port Moresby

Commentary: A widespread student national boycott of classes and protests against the government of Peter O’Neill in Papua New Guinea during May and June 2016, supported by many civil society groups and activists. The epicentre of these protests was the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in the nation's capital, Port Moresby. Demonstrations stirred by allegations of corruption against Prime Minister O'Neill grew in intensity until police opened fire on peaceful protesters on June 8. The protests were largely organised by the elected UPNG Student Representative Council, which entered into alliances with other tertiary student bodies, especially at the University of Technology in Lae, and civil society groups such as UPNG Focus and the Community Coalition Against Corruption. The essential argument of the students was that instead of thwarting investigations into allegations that $30 million of fraudulent legal bills were paid to the legal firm Paraka Lawyers, O’Neill should resign from office and present himself to the police investigators for questioning as they had demanded. This article focuses on the student leadership’s role and critiques the coverage of two major national press outlets, the PNG Post-Courier and The National, leading to the temporary shutdown of the university. It argues that there were issues of ethics and integrity at stake with both students and the news media.

Political instability will worsen in Papua New Guinea

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Foreign Exchange ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Investment Opportunities ◽  
Port Moresby ◽  
International Financing

Subject The outlook for politics and security in Papua New Guinea. Significance The police shooting of unarmed university students in the capital, Port Moresby, on June 8 has reverberated around the country, with ethnic tensions emerging in other campuses and growing discontent at Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's actions and those of the police. Behind the violence are growing political frustrations. Sovereign and political risk has increased as O'Neill is not perceived as responding appropriately to accusations of corruption and economic mismanagement. Impacts Unrest will cause minor disruptions to businesses, but the police and army will keep discontent under control. Nationalistic land, agriculture and business policies may reduce investment opportunities, except for well-connected large investors. The uncertainty has diminished prospects of international financing to ease government cash and foreign exchange shortages.

scholarly journals Managing the Natural Resource Sector: A Case Study of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elly Kinkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Liquefied Natural Gas ◽  
Extractive Industry ◽  
The Public ◽  
Resource Rents ◽  
The Government

<p>This research is a study of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, the country’s biggest single investment in the extractive industry. The focus of the research is on understanding the impact and effect of the project on the country and in particular the distribution of the revenue and the influences on the distribution of the revenue. An additional area that was also looked at was the financial transparency and accountability of these distributions. The research arose in direct response to the fact that Papua New Guinea (PNG), which is well endowed with a wide range of natural resources, does not seem to use its natural wealth effectively to improve the human development of its people. The exploitation of these resources has in fact been associated with recurring fiscal and monetary crises, concentrations of investment in the minerals and petroleum sector, no improvement in the basic public services, and corruption at all levels of government. There has also been a persistent rising level of socio-economic inequality in the immediate communities hosting major resource projects and increasing poverty in the urban areas and pockets of rural areas. The research took a case study approach and used a multi-disciplinary lens by looking at the political, economic and anthropological literature and gleaning from them propositions about the influences on the distribution of revenues. In particular the case was used to investigate propositions related to the “resources curse” hypothesis that, in the absence of good governance, developing country governments are at risk to economic and fiscal mismanagement and corruption from the availability of resource rents from extractive industries. The research gathered evidence from people from project-specific documents made available largely through social media, accessible budget papers, parliamentary proceedings (Hansard), Acts of Parliament, government policy edicts, statements and press releases and websites of key government departments, state owned enterprises and the companies involved in the project, and some interviews of key informants. The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) reports on PNG were also specifically examined. The project has been exporting LNG now since 2014. While the construction of the project had a significant effect on economic growth, wages and prices and the exchange rate, the longer-term effects are more contestable. Returns to the economy and government revenues have been lower than forecast due to lower prices but also the effect of tax concessions and debt servicing leading to flows offshore larger than forecast. The government and landowners were making decisions based on a flawed projection and information to the extent that the government has been unable to sequester any revenues in a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Continued volatility in petroleum prices has affected government budget planning but overoptimistic forecasting of revenues including from the PNG (LNG) project, particularly in 2014-16, led to ballooning deficits. For short-term political reasons, government budgeting has tended to over-commit to new spending during the commodity booms and be forced in the downswings into cutbacks damaging to public services and investment or to rapid increases in broadly defined public debt. Budgets also pre-committed project revenues to new public expenditure project. The key point was the lack of attention being given to the downside risks of revenue projections supplied by the operator. The politics of access to resource rents have played out in the form of relations between local landholders and the government and in how the executive power has been able to structure access to project revenues nationally. The project also has had a destabilizing effect on local society where local-national relations have influenced the national politics of resource rent distribution and conversely have been put under pressure over contestation of the project impacts and access to benefits. Further, landholders have to date not received their full financial entitlements from the project despite the promises being made by successive governments since 2009. There has been ongoing discontent amongst landholders. The lack of transparency about the use of project revenues, particularly those not accruing directly to the Public Account, has contributed to this discontent. The research also found the few key project agreements have been officially released but much information has its way into the public domain via social media. Budget-related information has been more plentiful but the EITI has been hampered by poor financial reporting by public organisations receiving and managing revenues. When project information does enter the public and government is forced to acknowledge it, it can influence how government conducts its business and makes decisions.</p>

scholarly journals Managing the Natural Resource Sector: A Case Study of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elly Kinkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Liquefied Natural Gas ◽  
Extractive Industry ◽  
The Public ◽  
Resource Rents ◽  
The Government

<p>This research is a study of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, the country’s biggest single investment in the extractive industry. The focus of the research is on understanding the impact and effect of the project on the country and in particular the distribution of the revenue and the influences on the distribution of the revenue. An additional area that was also looked at was the financial transparency and accountability of these distributions. The research arose in direct response to the fact that Papua New Guinea (PNG), which is well endowed with a wide range of natural resources, does not seem to use its natural wealth effectively to improve the human development of its people. The exploitation of these resources has in fact been associated with recurring fiscal and monetary crises, concentrations of investment in the minerals and petroleum sector, no improvement in the basic public services, and corruption at all levels of government. There has also been a persistent rising level of socio-economic inequality in the immediate communities hosting major resource projects and increasing poverty in the urban areas and pockets of rural areas. The research took a case study approach and used a multi-disciplinary lens by looking at the political, economic and anthropological literature and gleaning from them propositions about the influences on the distribution of revenues. In particular the case was used to investigate propositions related to the “resources curse” hypothesis that, in the absence of good governance, developing country governments are at risk to economic and fiscal mismanagement and corruption from the availability of resource rents from extractive industries. The research gathered evidence from people from project-specific documents made available largely through social media, accessible budget papers, parliamentary proceedings (Hansard), Acts of Parliament, government policy edicts, statements and press releases and websites of key government departments, state owned enterprises and the companies involved in the project, and some interviews of key informants. The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) reports on PNG were also specifically examined. The project has been exporting LNG now since 2014. While the construction of the project had a significant effect on economic growth, wages and prices and the exchange rate, the longer-term effects are more contestable. Returns to the economy and government revenues have been lower than forecast due to lower prices but also the effect of tax concessions and debt servicing leading to flows offshore larger than forecast. The government and landowners were making decisions based on a flawed projection and information to the extent that the government has been unable to sequester any revenues in a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Continued volatility in petroleum prices has affected government budget planning but overoptimistic forecasting of revenues including from the PNG (LNG) project, particularly in 2014-16, led to ballooning deficits. For short-term political reasons, government budgeting has tended to over-commit to new spending during the commodity booms and be forced in the downswings into cutbacks damaging to public services and investment or to rapid increases in broadly defined public debt. Budgets also pre-committed project revenues to new public expenditure project. The key point was the lack of attention being given to the downside risks of revenue projections supplied by the operator. The politics of access to resource rents have played out in the form of relations between local landholders and the government and in how the executive power has been able to structure access to project revenues nationally. The project also has had a destabilizing effect on local society where local-national relations have influenced the national politics of resource rent distribution and conversely have been put under pressure over contestation of the project impacts and access to benefits. Further, landholders have to date not received their full financial entitlements from the project despite the promises being made by successive governments since 2009. There has been ongoing discontent amongst landholders. The lack of transparency about the use of project revenues, particularly those not accruing directly to the Public Account, has contributed to this discontent. The research also found the few key project agreements have been officially released but much information has its way into the public domain via social media. Budget-related information has been more plentiful but the EITI has been hampered by poor financial reporting by public organisations receiving and managing revenues. When project information does enter the public and government is forced to acknowledge it, it can influence how government conducts its business and makes decisions.</p>

New Tanzanian government’s focus may shift

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Rare Earths ◽  
Liquefied Natural Gas ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Agenda

Significance Magufuli and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) have entered 2021 on a high, having swept the October 31 elections and essentially removed all vestiges of opposition to their power. They now need to deliver on their ambitious development agenda. Impacts Crackdowns against the opposition, civil society and other critics will intensify. Persistent bottlenecks in government suggest progress towards a flagship USD30bn liquefied natural gas project may remain slow. Reports that Tanzania is close to finalising a deal for its first ever rare earths mine could give Magufuli’s agenda an early boost.

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