IMF reaches staff-level deal with Papua New Guinea, potentially unlocking about $189 million

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached a staff-level agreement with Papua New Guinea, potentially unlocking up to $189 million in funding facilities, according to a report by CNA - Business. If approved by the IMF executive board, the country would receive approximately $82 million immediately and up to $107 million in climate financing, totaling around $1.19 billion in IMF money paid out.

The IMF forecasts a slowdown in real GDP growth to 3.1% in 2026 from 6.2% in 2025, attributed to factors such as LNG output stabilization, El Nino effects on agriculture and mining, and increased import costs due to the Middle East war. Headline inflation is expected to rise to 4.8%. Papua New Guinea met all but one quantitative performance criterion and all indicative targets for the end of June 2026, though it missed its fiscal deficit target in the first half of the year.

Brief written by urgent.news from CNA - Business's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.