Nabilah S
The GDP of Papua New Guinea is now higher than before the pandemic. High commodity prices and removing COVID-19 restrictions will speed up economic growth to 4.5 percent by 2022, according to the current Economic Update for Papua New Guinea from the World Bank.
According to the World Bank’s Papua New Guinea Economic Update, PNG’s budget deficit is expected to go down from 6.8% of GDP in 2021 to 5.4% in 2022. This shows that the Papua New Guinea government is still cutting spending and working to stabilize the economy. The Economic Update suggests that the country keeps implementing its plan to cut the budget gap.
In 2023, economic growth is expected to slow to 3.7%, according to a new report. This is because world demand is falling, and there aren’t enough goods. It means that plans for balancing the budget in the middle term could get harder. On the one hand, PNG needs to spend a lot of money on human capital (like schooling, health care, and social security) and infrastructure. On the other hand, it is unlikely that rising commodity prices will lead to big increases in resource income in the coming years.
The World Bank study, “Unlocking the Economic Benefits of Gender Equality,” also makes a clear economic case for advancing gender equality in PNG. The study says that closing the big gap between men’s and women’s participation in better, more productive paid work could add 20% to GDP per person throughout a generation.
The report also says that addressing gender-based violence could have other big economic benefits besides improving women’s lives in PNG, which is clear. The study says that absenteeism caused by gender-based violence costs the economy at least 0.5% of GDP yearly, but the real cost is much higher.
The new analysis underlines the potentially considerable economic advantages gained in PNG by addressing gender inequality, such as higher total family incomes, more extensive education and training, and increased economic productivity. The report suggests
- A review of PNG’s Employment Act, including getting rid of terms that are unfair to some workers;
- increased enforcement of the Family Protection Act;
- the actual implementation of the National Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Strategy; and
- The growth of programs that help women get jobs by reaching out to them, teaching them new skills, and giving them access to women’s employment networks.
Khwima Nthara, Country Manager for the World Bank in Papua New Guinea, said, “This is a significant time for Papua New Guinea as its economy starts to grow again after the huge problems of the past three years.” “Work to drive fiscal consolidation and reduce PNG’s debt burden is now showing results that will help to keep many of the hard-won gains.”
Mr. Nthara said that the new Economic Update from the World Bank sent a clear message that solving gender inequality was not only a social but also an economic necessity for all Papua New Guineans.
The message of this study is clear: fixing many of the most urgent gender inequalities in Papua New Guinea will bring significant economic benefits to the country, and doing nothing will hurt both men and women in Papua New Guinea.
