The Department of Works and Highways is shifting away from paper-based payments as PNG’s public sector continues its move towards digital financial management.

The introduction of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) within the department is expected to improve the speed of payments, strengthen accountability and provide better oversight of government spending, particularly under the multi-billion kina Connect PNG program.

PNG Works Department Moves to Digital Payments System

Works and Highways Secretary Gibson Holemba said managing large-scale infrastructure funding required stronger systems to ensure transparency and proper reporting.

He said the adoption of EFT would help eliminate lengthy administrative processes that often delayed payments and reporting.

“I hope the system improvement in terms of going into EFT process will help us cut down this bureaucratic process on payment system to at least bring in efficiency in the public service and help also restore accountability, transparency, and most importantly, the reporting aspect of it as well, that we can able to report on time and also look at payment on the expenditure reconciliation and all that stuff,” Mr Holemba said.

Mr Holemba also highlighted the financial benefits of the transition, saying the department would save money by reducing its dependence on manual payment processes.

He said the current arrangement required substantial resources to administer, including travel by officers and centralised cheque printing in Port Moresby.

According to him, transferring funds electronically would streamline operations and lower recurrent expenditure across the department.

Department of Finance First Assistant Secretary for the Financial Control Division, Marlene Philip, said the EFT rollout was being implemented across government agencies in line with a national directive to modernise public financial systems.

She said cheque-based payments would be phased out completely by 2027.

Mrs Philip said the transition formed part of the government’s broader digital transformation agenda and noted that Finance was leading the implementation across the public sector.

She also pointed to the successful introduction of EFT at the Office of the Prime Minister and National Executive Council last week as evidence that the initiative was progressing well.

The Department of Works and Highways has become the eighth government agency to adopt the digital payment platform. The EFT system is integrated into the government’s financial management framework, enabling public funds to be monitored and tracked more effectively.

The Department of Finance will first conduct testing on a trustee account before the system is fully activated within the department.

“The National Procurement Committee Council gave us still 2027. It’s one of their agendas to be, you know, on the digital life station transformation, and which is one of them that finance is spearheading that.

“And I’m happy to say that we are rolling out to all the government agencies.”