The money the ledgers miss

Anyone who has watched a pay land in Port Moresby knows the paper is counting the wrong border. Writing this, I wanted a figure for the money that moves every fortnight from a wage in town to a household two provinces away. The World Bank counts money that crosses a border, and a kina that crosses the Owen Stanleys stays off its books.

The best evidence I found is forty-seven years old. In 1979 Louise Morauta and Morauta Hasu followed the money between Kukipi village in Gulf Province and relatives working in town, and they found that "aggregate transactions between urban and rural households benefit rural more than urban residents." Town wages flowed home to the village, and villagers spent that cash mostly on food.

The routes have changed since 1979, and collecting the money still takes a big share of it. In 2018 Mark Moran described villagers in the South Fly collecting money from relatives in Port Moresby through Post PNG or a BSP branch in Daru. The trip to that bank, he wrote, "can exceed one hundred Kina, consuming much if not most of the payment they receive." The money arrived intact and the journey ate it.

Picture Dorcas, who sells smoked fish and garden food at the market in Kerema. Her son works as a security guard in Port Moresby and sends K300 home at the start of each month. She spends K40 of it on the dinghy and PMV fares to collect it. Her son budgets around the K300 and she budgets around the K260, and both figures live in their heads. When his contract ended in March, the K300 stopped, and both of their budgets broke in the same month.

Yesterday I wrote about the founder who pays herself last. A wage earner sending money home often puts themselves last too, with family at the front of the queue. Pape's buckets, which I use, run from daily expenses to the fire extinguisher, and money for home squeezes into whichever one has room. When I built my own spreadsheet on Day 11, I gave it a separate block for what I owe my people, beside what I have and what I owe a lender. The total in that block was the one thing the sheet showed me that I had yet to work out for myself.

So here is my question: if you send money home, or live on money someone sends you, how does it move? Tell me how often, by what route, what it costs to collect, and what happens in the month it stops. I'll keep your name out of it if you like. You'll read the piece before it runs, and you'll decide what stays in.

Best

Amanda

P.S. What’s your view on today’s newsletter? Did I miss something out that you’d like to share? Write to me, [email protected]. I may not get back to you, but I will try to read what you send in.

Wild Money is general information only, drawn from my own experience and research. It isn't financial advice, and nothing in it is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or manage money in any particular way. What worked for me won't necessarily suit you. Please seek advice from a licensed financial adviser before making decisions about your own money.