Government-by-Government Assessments: Papua New Guinea
During the review period, the government made budget documents publicly available. The enacted budget and end-of-year report were published online, but the executive budget proposal was not. Information on debt obligations was not available in a reasonable period of time, including for state-owned enterprises. Publicly available budget documents were incomplete and did not include royalties and levies from the oil and gas industry held in off-budget trust accounts, which lacked adequate oversight and audit. The information in the budget was considered generally reliable. The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and did not make its reports publicly available within a reasonable period of time. The criteria and procedures by which the national government awards contracts or licenses for natural resource extraction were specified in law. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards in the mining sector was publicly available, but not in the oil and gas sector. Sovereign wealth funds disclosed their sources of funding and general approaches to withdrawals. Papua New Guinea’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- publishing debt information in a reasonable period of time, including for state-owned enterprises;
- establishing adequate audit and oversight for revenues from natural resources and spending from associated off-budget trust accounts;
- making basic information on natural resource extraction awards publicly available;
- ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and publishes complete audit reports within a reasonable period of time; and
- publishing basic information regarding natural resource extraction awards.