World Bank to step up engagement with PNG, says rep

THE World Bank will step up its engagement with Papua New Guinea because of the potential of its economy in the region, says country director Michael Kerf.
Kerf said PNG was the largest economy in the region.
“We are currently listening to the government on how it wants us to deploy the finance and the type of assistance it is expecting from us,” he said.
“We believe that the government has put a lot of effort into looking at the physical side of the macro-economic situation.”
He said Deputy Prime Minister Charles Abel was working with colleagues and the government “on the monetary side of the equation”.
“This is clearly a very big agenda of the government and they have put a lot of energy behind it,” he said.
“They have asked us for support in this area and we are honored to be invited to provide such a support.”
He said part of the support was to share their assessment on the economic situation so that the government and stakeholders could think about what the next steps would be.
Kerf said they were preparing an operation to support the programme of the government on the macro-economic front.