Covid-19 to affect economy: Official

National

THE PNG economy is struggling and the effects of the coronavirus will make the situation tougher, chief executive officer of the Teachers Savings and Loan Society Ltd (Tisa) Michael Koisen says.
“The coronavirus is going to affect us in a big way in 2020 and 2021 is going to be difficult, because it will affect businesses, even the small businesses, SMEs (small to medium enterprises), we are all affected because of a lot of the things we import from overseas,” he said.
Koisen said cash flow and borrowing would be affected and the government’s ability to manage its spending and borrowing would have a telling effect on the nation.
“We do not have the cash flow within the country, so borrowing is going to be part of our life, it is how we manage the borrowing, if the government manages the borrowing and cash flows well, we will come out okay,” he said.
Koisen said Papua New Guineans were resilient and were capable of surviving through economic hardships.
“We are resilient people, whatever the economic hardships that we face, we bounce back, and Tisa’s success is based on the success of those small people, so long as they are looking after their families.”