Companies in Papua New Guinea want forex issue sorted
TWO big companies in Papua New Guinea want the foreign exchange issue, which continues to affect businesses as regards the importing of goods, resolved quickly.
Brian Bell Group chairman Ian Clough said the country had been dealing with the foreign exchange issue for over a decade now.
“The lack of inflows from foreign investment as a result of delays in finalising agreements for our larger resource projects, is no doubt one of the more obvious reasons for the lack of available currency for importers at the moment,” he said.
“The other is the ongoing devaluation of the PNG Kina.
“As our Kina now buys less internationally, this creates an even higher demand for foreign currency to maintain business performance.
“Access to foreign currency to maintain an adequate supply of goods for customers remains a key challenge for businesses which import goods and services.
“There are a number of factors contributing to this issue, however, these challenges ultimately create pressure on availability and drive up the cost of goods for everyday Papua New Guineans.”
Clough said Brian Bell was fortunate to have “strong relationships with our banking partners and with our long-term suppliers that help us to maintain a regular inflow of goods for our customers”.
“However, in recent months, the longer delays in securing currency have resulted in more pressure to meet our customer expectations,” he added.
“As many international suppliers will not produce or ship goods to PNG without a full payment, this can result in delays in getting wanted product into the country.
“We are working with our suppliers to try to reduce the impact on our customers.”
City Pharmacy Limited Group founder Sir Mahesh Patel said it would be nice for the Bank of PNG to explain why the foreign exchange supply continued to be an issue for many businesses.
Sir Mahesh said businesses were losing credibility with suppliers overseas as a result.
“For us at CPL, it’s all across the board with pharmaceuticals, food items and a range of health and beauty products,” he said.
“Also, I think our Government has given too much concessions to big extractive industries where all the forex is not coming into PNG.”
No comment could be obtained from the Bank of PNG yesterday.
TheNational/ONEPNG
Also read
Post a Comment