Vanuatu will witness a referendum on two constitutional amendments designed to strengthen the party system on 29 May 2024. The proposed reforms, passed by parliament in December 2023, seek to tie MPs to political parties, prohibit MPs from remaining independent and reduce the incidence of no...
Category - Pacific and PNG
PNG’s development plan implies falling living standards
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape launched the country’s current Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) in July 2023. It is the fourth in the most recent series of five-year plans, though such plans have been a part of PNG’s governance since independence. This one is Marape’s first...
PNG’s latest revenue projections: defying gravity?
Fiscal consolidation has been a central focus of PNG’s fiscal policy in recent years, with the ongoing IMF program bringing particular emphasis to the PNG government’s goal of eliminating the budget deficit by 2027. In most countries around the world, fiscal consolidation is accompanied by...
Mobile internet prices falling in Papua New Guinea
After years of high prices for mobile data in Papua New Guinea, consumers are now able to access lower prices that represent better value. We have been monitoring mobile internet prices in PNG since the start of 2020. This post reports on research findings since the April 2022 update. (Previous...
Subnational governance in PNG – poor and worsening
In this third post in a three-part series focusing on subnational government financing in PNG, I...
Free movement of people within the Pacific: how?
The Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is the latest to add his voice to calls for the free...
The Rabuka government: a first-third assessment
Ice hockey is, almost uniquely, a game played over three thirds. You won’t find much ice hockey in...
Subnational government spending in PNG
In a previous post, I discussed how provincial revenue in PNG has performed over time, how...
A different kind of voyage: Tony Hughes, 1936-2024
We republish this unedited obituary of Tony Hughes as a mark of respect for a person of great...
Uncertainty surrounds PNG’s local government elections
In August 2024, Papua New Guinea will conduct local level government (LLG) elections. The...