Papua New Guinea stands to benefit from stronger gold prices for the reminder of this year and going into 2025. That is the announcement from Kina Bank when stating in its latest economic report that the continued record gold prices will have positive implications for PNG’s gold export proceeds. When releasing its September 2024 Economic Update, Kina Bank Managing Director and CEO Greg Pawson said that gold prices reached record historical highs of US$2, 600 per ounce in September, and that trend is likely to continue given the uncertainties around the global economic outlook, in particular with the looming U.S elections and on-going middle east conflicts. “During these periods, gold is often seen as a safe-haven asset for investors,” Mr. Pawson said. “In addition, the anticipated rate cuts by the U.S Fed is poised to weaken the U.S dollar. There is a historical inverse relationship between gold and the dollar, so further rate cuts in the next quarter could see gold prices continue to spike. This could have positive implications for PNG’s gold export proceeds.” The bank also noted that there have been significant improvements in PNG’s foreign exchange (FX) market. The PGK/USD interbank rate continues its downward trend, with the import order book for essential items decreasing by 25% over the past year for Kina Bank. This improvement is attributed to the Bank of PNG’s consistent intervention levels, with the order book now also including non-essential goods in the import order book. Despite the inclusion of these new orders, waiting times for currency have reduced from months to around 4-6 weeks. Meanwhile, PNG Stock Exchange-listed companies involved in the export of key commodities reported very strong half-year profits, driven by high cocoa prices and resilient global equity markets. “Elevated international cocoa prices and resilient global equity market conditions were some of the key drivers that supported the performance of the local companies. Looking into the second half, we are expecting another strong performance from these companies.”