The world Bank's conditions for SEDP loan
p. 40 · Read in the full issue
THE World Bank withheld a loan to the PNG government because it was not satisfied with progress on the implementation of 44 points that had been agreed to as the basis on which the Social and Economic Development (SEDP) loan would be given. They included: - budget planning and implementationf which the reduc tion of tariffs and the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) are an important part. - encourage private sector development by introducing a National Investment Policy that will aply to all investors and stop ministers from giving case by case approvals of projects with different incentives for each project. End pioneer status which gives tax holidays because there have been projects
that have been granted pioneer status that were not eligible.
Given greater emphasis to the promotion side of the Investment Promotion authotiy and reduce the number of reserved activities. Remove regulations regarding entry to agriculture marketing or give anybody a monopoly in trading. - financial sector reform including the publishing of a “green” (discussion) paper on financial reform. Establishment of a Securities Commission. Prepare the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation for sale and carry out an external audit of the bank and its new subsidiaries, concentrating on how the bank is managed and the number of loans that can be expect ed to be repaid. - promoting sustainable forestry and fisheries industries in