Papua New Guinea

The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997 after claiming some 20,000 lives.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Papua New Guinean kina (ISO code: PGK)
 * Central bank discount rate: 7% (31 December 2008)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 9.27% (31 December 2008)
 * Stock of money (M1): $2.005 billion (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $1.726 billion (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1989-?

Links

 * Papua New Guinea on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Papua New Guinea
 * BBC country profile