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Better economic management and relative political stability have helped resource-rich Papua New Guinea notch up impressive growth over the past five years.
This year, its economy is expected to grow by 4.5 per cent, propelled primarily by the mining boom that has seen the metals and mineral oil
sectors grow by up to 500 per cent since 2002.
Last month, soon after Sir Michael Somare's re-election as Prime Minister, international credit rating agency Standard and Poor's upgraded the country's rating to B+, the best ever in its 37 years since independence.
Somare's leadership can claim credit for the stability factor that has been cited as a major contributor to the rating upgrade.
Though continuing reports of troubled diplomatic relations with Australia have tended to give the impression of instability, particularly in the Western media, his previous government was the first in history to last its entire five-year term and had the distinction of presiding over the country's most impressive growth phase.
It is not just the commodities boom on the back of strong international demand, mainly from China, that have helped put PNG's economy in better shape today than it was five years ago.
While triple-digit growth in copper, oil and to a lesser extent gold certainly helped, it was deft debt management that earned it praise from international financial institutions: since 2002, the national debt has dipped from a high of 72 per cent to just 39 per cent this year.
Better compliance and collection processes have seen a four-fold increase in tax revenue from the petroleum and mining sectors in just four years.
Domestic funds in the government's Public Investment Programme have grown by nearly US$100 million ($133 million) in the same period.
The country has foreign exchange reserves enough to cover five months' worth of imports.
"Papua New Guinea's economic and financial situation is very healthy," Treasury Secretary Simon Tosali told the media in Port Moresby before his state of the economy presentation to the nation last month. He also said the Government was expected to announce a record budget surplus of around US$400 million this week. This will be the third budget surplus in a row.
But as in the case of much of the developing world, these impressive macroeconomic gains have not translated into any tangible benefits for a majority of more than five million Papua New Guineans.
In fact, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse. The country has been downgraded in almost every aspect of human development in these past few years - the very period in which it has seen such robust economic growth and won international financial recognition.
Recent studies show a disturbing increase in poverty levels. An assessment in late 2005 showed there was little hope that the country would bring down poverty to levels prescribed by the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Though its economic growth continues to be high compared to other Pacific Island nations, many smaller islands leave PNG far behind in several development indices.
The country tops the list of Pacific Island nations in child mortality rates with 93 out of 1000 children dying before they reach the age of 5.
The runaway spread of HIV/Aids over the past decade threatens to reach epidemic proportions while access to public healthcare continues to remain difficult.
The gender gap in primary and secondary education as well as in basic literacy levels has increased over the past few years, with enrolments falling and the dropout rate rising for both genders.
The country's Parliament has just one female member - Australian-born Carol Kidu.
There is a growing disparity in the delivery of social and civic services across the urban-rural divide. Just 32 per cent of the rural population can access safe drinking water and sanitation. And as urban migration continues unchecked, squatter settlements in Port Moresby and other cities are putting ever-increasing pressure on the environment and the machinery of law and order.
While claiming credit for the country's commendable economic performance, the Somare Administration must accept responsibility for these glaring failures at the grassroots level.
After this latest triumph in his 40-year political career, Somare said his government's challenge now was to deliver economic benefits through all levels of society. But if he stands by by his statement that he would voluntarily step down from the country's top job after 18 months, he will have little time to devote to those goals.
Last week there were media reports that a faction within the PNG Army was planning to arrest Somare on his return from New York after addressing the UN General Assembly.
The Army commander dismissed it as rumour - but it is enough indication of the rough weather Somare faces in Parliament.
