Today I was privileged to be with Central Bank Board, Acting Governor of Central Bank and staff of the Central Bank to commemorate the 50th Anniversary. If there were people who thought PNG would fail when Somare and Chan generation of leaders set up institutions to carry our country post 1975, key institutions have lived on carrying our country forward.
When Central Bank started in 1973, PNG economy was under K5 billion. When I took office in 2019, our economy was under K80 billion. Today, in 2023 our economy is over K113 billion.
I encourage the Central Bank to use the monetary policy to complement our government’s fiscal policy tools as we work to grow the economy past K200 billion at the earliest to catch-up and sustain our population that has been growing faster than our economy over the last 50 years.
I want to acknowledge Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, Sir Julius Chan and their generation of leaders, the fathers of our country who had faith in PNG. I extend my appreciation to the previous and current board, the previous and current Governors and staff for their faithfulness over the last 50 years.
Today we must do better with 50 years of experiences behind us. With hard work and consistency in the next 10 years, on the eve of the 60th anniversary our economy would be over K200 billion. Our government is focused on this by putting in the necessary policies and regulatory framework to grow the economy. Those benchmarks would be a measure of our progress as a nation.
