BY SAMIE WAIKORI
The Ministry of Finance and Treasury has reported that the mining sector will be the key driver of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for this year and next year.
Deputy Secretary for Economics at the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Selwyn Takana made the statement in response to questions raised by Leader of Opposition, Matthew Wale, during a recent Bills & Legislative Committee (BLC) hearing.
“In terms of the economy, we are looking at the mining sector and it will be the key driving sector to contribute to the country’s GDP.
“We projected that it will grow around 43 percent contribution to GDP this year and next year, it will grow up to 46% GDP.
“So, we are anticipating that mining sector will be the biggest driver of our economy, as logging sector is going down,” he said.
Takana said logging is anticipated to decline and the country begins to experience decrease in export of volumes of cubic metres.
In logging sector, we expect volume will be around 1.3 million cubic metres – a decline from 1.5 million cubic metres the country has previously exported.
“So, we are anticipating mining sector to be the key driver for growth this year and next year,” he said.
Island Sun understands that three major mining operations are currently going on in the country, nickel operations in Isabel and Choiseul, while gold operation in Guadalcanal province.
Bauxite mining in Rennell Bellona province came to halt few years ago, and the country is still waiting for revenue from the 33 shipments that were exported.
For feedback, contact:[email protected]
