PORT MORESBY, December 15, 2025 — The World Bank has approved a $150 million budget support package to help Papua New Guinea advance reforms aimed at strengthening revenues, facilitating trade, creating jobs, and improving disaster resilience. PNG’s economy relies heavily on mining, oil, and gas, yet most citizens earn their livelihoods through agriculture and informal work. Historically, low and unpredictable revenues have limited public investment in essential services and job creation.
The reform program focuses on improving revenue collection through the new Income Tax Bill, which introduces a capital gains tax and strengthens measures to ensure overseas companies accurately report and pay taxes on profits repatriated from PNG. Complementing this is a reinforced State-Owned Enterprise Dividend Policy that mandates higher and more consistent returns from SOEs to the government. These reforms aim to secure stronger, more reliable returns from the country’s resource wealth and direct additional resources toward health, education, and employment.
The program also includes measures to support trade and agribusiness growth, such as the Biosecurity Bill 2025 and the National Trade Portal, which are designed to ease exporting and open new opportunities for farmers and small businesses. By strengthening systems that protect communities, the reforms also enhance the country’s resilience to disasters and health emergencies.
A key component of the financing is a $50 million Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO), which provides immediate access to funds following major disasters to maintain essential services and support affected communities. Alongside this, the government will implement real-time health data systems and improve search-and-rescue coordination, reinforcing national preparedness and response capacity.
