Financing Growth
We are working to increase business access to finance, as well as access to basic financial services for business and individuals across the Pacific.
Business access to credit is critical to private sector growth. Without finance, businesses struggle to grow, meaning economic growth is slowed, jobs are not created, tax revenue does not grow, and standards of living are not raised.
Business and households in the Pacific continue to experience high levels of financial exclusion despite the prevalence of excess liquidity in many Pacific financial systems and the increased availability of savings products.
There is a strong link between access to finance and business growth, and, in turn, growth in employment and incomes. This is why PSDI works to alleviate the constraints Pacific businesses face in obtaining finance.
To address these constraints, PSDI’s financing growth work area focuses on:
- supporting the commercial transformation of government-owned banks through implementing policies and processes to support commercial lending, development of strategic plans, and clarification of the role of state-owned banks within wider banking systems;
- introducing financing products more suited to the Pacific, such as lending products where the borrower can use movable assets rather than land as collateral, and new capital raising platforms, such as equity crowd funding and peer-to-peer lending;
- strengthening the capability of retirement funds to finance long-term domestic investment through the development of investment management frameworks and other policies and processes, which protects both members’ interests and the fund’s financial sustainability;
- strengthening the financial sector’s institutional underpinnings by supporting the development of robust policies and associated legal and regulatory frameworks—a common thread through all PSDI’s work; and
- building awareness of key policy issues through advocacy and analytical work.
Financing Growth and COVID-19
For more information on PSDI's Financing Growth focus area and COVID-19, click here.
Financing Growth at a glance
333% average increase
Faster loan approvals
New lending products
Gender disaggregated data
Commercializing government banks
Alternative capital raising
Latest News
PSDI presented on the program's Agriculture Value Chain Financing work at the launch of the ADB’s "Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2023: How Small Firms Can Contribute to Resilient Growth in the Pacific Post COVID-19 Pandemic" in Sydney on 25 October 2023.
PSDI has supported the Securities Commission of Papua New Guinea to develop a new 10-year Capital Markets Development Strategy, outlining how the country can attract investment to grow its economy and create jobs.
RNZ PACIFIC: The authors of a recently released PSDI report on disadvantages faced by Pacific women in accessing retirement fund benefits are calling for reforms.
Vegetable growers in PNG's Morobe Province can boost production, grow their incomes, and expand their businesses after gaining access to new tractors through a PSDI-supported tailored agriculture finance product. (News item courtesy of TV Wan)
Key Publications
