Bank of Papua New Guinea Bank of Papua New Guinea The Bank of Papua New Guinea is the central bank of Papua New Guinea. Its main function is to issue currency and to act as the banker and financial agent to the Government. It is also in charge of regulating banking and other financial services and manages the gold, foreign exchange and any other international reserves of Papua New Guinea. Mr Loi Martin Bakani is the current governor of the bank. Banking came to Papua in 1910 with the establishment of a branch of the Bank of New South Wales in Port Moresby. In 1916,
Languages of Papua New Guinea Languages of Papua New Guinea The languages of Papua New Guinea today number over 850. These languages are spoken by the inhabited tribal groups of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In 2006, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stated that "Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages (languages, not dialects)" making it the most linguistically diverse place on earth. Its official languages are Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Tok Pisin, an English-based creole, is the most widely spoken, serving as the country's lingua franca. Papua New Guinean Sign Language became the fourth official language in