Laws stabled economy: Henao

Business

By CLARISSA MOI
SELF-REGULATION and structures based on the Covid-19 Pandemic Act (2020) created by businesses has created stability in the economy, according to the PNG Business Council.
Council executive director Douveri Henao said this allowed the market to continue to operate.
“The Covid-19 policy of promoting self-regulation has proven that it’s working,” he said.
“The market is working and we’re beginning to see a confidence being restored, but not necessarily a recovery,” he said.
“Confidence in operating is different from recovery.
“People are confident that they can operate, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are recovering.
“So the self-regulation modality applied by the Government is encouraging and must continue.”
Henao also said that half of the businesses who participated in the second market condition survey conducted by the council were able to operate in the current environment for more than 12 months.
“This indicated that close to six months into the pandemic, businesses have already passed the phase where they are setting up structures and processes to navigate the challenges of the current environment,” he said.
“At present, it is likely that these processes and structures are helping create a sense of stability in their operations thus enabling business leaders to make such projections.”
According to the second market condition survey conducted by the council, measures directly related to the Covid-19 restrictions such as allowing inbound overseas travel and allowing businesses to operate as long as health protocols were still a priority, despite moving down slightly in the rankings.
This emphasised that businesses heavily benefitted from having their employees in country and therefore this need was crucial to get back to business as usual.
Meanwhile, Henao acknowledged the lifting of the restrictions under the National Pandemic Act by Controller and Police Commissioner David Manning and said it was an indication for the market to open up.
“That only means that when it begins to open up, we will see more hype and activity in the confidence space,” he said.