Review will address forex woes, competition: Treasurer

TREASURER Ian Ling-Stuckey says the review of the Central Banking Act will address the lack of foreign exchange and competition in the banking industry.
He said the public consultation phase was expected in the next two weeks.
“The independent advisory group for the review of the Central Banking Act 2000 is making good progress on how we can make BPNG and monetary policy work better for the people,” he said.
“I encourage people to look at the issues paper and consider the important issues raised.
“Public submissions are now coming in.”
He said the review was important.
“The current legislation needs to be modernised,” he said.
“Why is there still not enough competition in our banking sector?
“The gap between what banks pay to depositors and charge to lenders is too high.
“Too many of our people still do not have access to banking services.
“Too many of our SMEs find it too hard to get loans.
“The review is considering if we can do things better while maintain the bank’s independence.
“The lack of foreign exchange is the worst business problem in PNG, bigger than law and order, or lack of skilled labour, or bad infrastructure, according to businesses in the annual CEO survey.
“Why is our kina now so difficult to convert to other currencies when it wasn’t an issue 10 years ago?”
He said the people were promised that the PNG LNG project would avoid such issues.