Papua New Guinea wants to raise export taxes on logs to 70%

02-02-2023

At the 2023 Budget Assembly in Papua New Guinea, the finance minister proposed raising the export tax on logs by another 20%, to 70%.


Some lawmakers are skeptical.


More than 3,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the country's logging and timber processing industries if the decision goes ahead.


The 50 percent (or 59 percent) tariff, which has been in place since 2020, has caused many timber merchants to close or scale back operations, resulting in the loss of nearly 2,600 jobs.


The ban on log exports is something that the PNG government has long wanted to accomplish, but it hasn't given up. In October, Prime Minister James Malapai said that Papua New Guinea remains committed to ending all log exports by 2025.


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