Ian Tarutia, the chief executive officer of the National Superannuation Fund (Nasfund), has explained that one of the factors behind the rising prices of goods and products in Papua New Guinea is the country’s reliance on imports.
He said that it was simply a matter of supply and demand and that recently, PNG had been unable to import enough goods from abroad.
“There is a supply chain, goods that are imported, when they are slow coming because of shipping and point of source and the whole rule of supply and demand. If supply is low and demand is high, then that forces prices up. One of the main reasons why prices of goods are going up is because we are not able to get enough supply from overseas,” Mr Tarutia explained.
“That would be the same for manufacturing,” he continued. “We are bringing in imports to use for things that we are manufacturing onshore. We still rely on imports from offshore, and there will be delays.”
Sir Mahesh Patel, the founder of City Pharmacy Ltd, expressed similar sentiments. He said that a few factors were adding to the problem when it comes to imports. These included an increase in freight costs, currency devaluation, and the cost of goods having risen globally.
Sir Patel added, “All locally sourced products would have the same issues as lots of raw materials are imported.”
