shing industry

Business Bulletin

Solomons to review

minimum wage

fHE Solomon Islands government is to eview the national minimum wage of an hour. A Labour Division pokesman says the rate was set in July 988 and is now considered too low gainst the current retail price index, "he spokesman said his office would soon et national minimum wage level be ween and USS6O an hour.

He said the new guideline might be eady to be submitted^to cabinet towards he end of the year.

*NG reserves

emain low

APUA New Guinea’s foreign exchange remain low despite a huge jump i the balance of trade in the first six lonths of the year. PNG’s trade surplus rew to US$66O million in the six months > the end of June, thanks to expanded ude oil, copper and log exports, eleasing the Bank of Papua New uinea’s latest Quarterly Economic Bull in, the governor, Sir Mekere Morauta, id the country’s foreign exchange serves at the end of June amounted to xmt US$l4O million, equivalent to just 'er six weeks of imports.

While the balance of trade swung rongly in PNG’s favour because of gher exports and lower imports, there as a major offsetting outflow of capital oil and mining companies paid off bstantial debts, net interest payments id paid dividends.

ihir’s gold

oat plan

IE Papua New Guinea government s announced plans for one of the

>rld’s largest gold floats, proposing to

t up to 40 per cent of the massive lion dollar Lihir gold project out onto s market.

PNG’s mining and petroleum minister asket lanagalio says the government d joint ventures RTZ and Niugini

ining are considering pooling their

ireholdings into one corporation,

itatively known as Lihir Gold.

Small Canadian explorer Venezuelan

►ldfields would be involved as would

“ state-owned Malaysian Mining Cor

ration. Mr langalio says the new npany, subject to approval from finet and the partner’s boards, pro ses to raise between US$25O million d US$4OO million by a share float on

: Australian stock exchange.

iue boosts its

shing industry

UE has granted a fishing licence to a w Zealand company as part of efforts develop a small fishing industry. A ic government spokesman said the

licence was sold for US$55O and the fishing boat will have Niuean observers on board while fishing around the island of Niue and at Beveridge Reef which is inside Niue’s 200-mile economic zone.

Vanuatu casino

hotel sold

VANUATU’S Raddison Royals Palms Resort and Casino has been sold. Hotel general manager Maurice Cooks said a contract for the sale of the property had been signed.

Mr Cooks said the purchaser had met with the government and “obtained a memorandum of understanding” of the completion of the contract.

PNG promotion

proves a winner

A PUBLIC relations program to pro mote Papua New Guinea’s trade and investment opportunities has won a major award in Queensland. The pro gram, Faces of Papua New Guinea, has won the Brisbane-based public relations company, McCalls, the annual Gold Award for Excellence for being Queens land’s Best Public Relations project for 1993.

The project involved a one-day busi ness seminar in Brisbane in April this year that attracted 400 people.

Banks face cuts

in interest rates

BANKS in Papua New Guinea have been warned that the Central Bank would force a round of interest rate cuts unless the banks move first. Finance minister Sir Julius Chan says he is fed up with banks failing to support PNG*s economic development or government policies and he would intervene through the Central Bank Act.

Sir Julius said he was not prepared to have the banks abuse their market powers any longer without consideration of market realities or national priorities.

Sir Julius says he is committed in his quest for lower landing rates, increased efficiency, and lower margins to promote a faster rate of growth in lending, especially to Papua New Guineans.

He says he has directed the Central Bank to endorse section 38 of the Central Banking Act and so “play a far more interventionist, regulatory and supervis ory role in monetary policy determi nation”. The warning has come six months after the finance minister put similar pressure on the country’s five commercial banks to cut their indicator

lending rates.

Fiji’s timber

earnings up

EXPORT earnings from Fiji’s timber and timber products increased by nearly

US$3 million last year compared with the previous year. The forestry depart ment’s 1992 annual report put sawn timber exports at over 26,000 cubic metres earning US$4.6 million.

Revenue from Fiji’s pine-chip exports to Japan for the period was put at almost USSIS million.

Oil find to

be developed

A PAPUA New Guinea petroleum company, Barracuda Pty Limited, has reached agreement with operator of the rich Kutubu Oil Fields, Chevron Niugini, to develop the country’s new oil find in the South East Gobe region between the Gulf and Southern High lands provinces. Barracuda, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian M.I.M.

Holdings, under the agreement will be the overall operator of the South East Gobe Fields . . . expected to come into full production in two years.

The South East Gobe Oilfield is linked with the Kutubu find and estimates of development construction are between US$l5O million and US$2OO million.

ANZ Bank now

in Tonga

COMPETITION will enter the Tongan banking industry for the first time when the Australia and New Zealand Banking Corporation begins operations in the kingdom next month. ANZ is finalising the lease of a building in central Nuku’alofa. ANZ general manager des ignate Bob Decourtney says the bank will be recruiting about 20 Tongan staff in the first phase of operations. ANZ will provide all normal banking and loan facilities and for the first time will provide competition to the Bank of Tonga.

Solomons external

reserves increase

SOLOMON Islands’ external reserves increased during the second quarter by US$4.5 million U 5522.4 million. The Central Bank of Solomon Islands June report says the increase reflects princi pally the improvement in the trade account which resulted mainly from improvements in receipts in almost all major export commodities.

Copra had declined by nine per cent to 6801 tonnes compared with a decline of seven per cent in the previous quarter.

But the report says that coconut oil production increased by 76 per cent to 1746 tonnes compred with a decline of eiight per cent in the previous quarter.

The report says that palm oil and kernal production increasea seven per cent to 10,583 tonnes compared with an 11 per cent increase in the first quarter.

Cocoa production increased by 49 per cent compared with a sharp fall of 50 per cent last quarter. □