Papua New Guinea Government revenue declines
The PNG Leaders' Summit tomorrow (Thursday) occurs at a time the PNG economy is at a crossroads with export revenues starting to flow from the US$19 billion PNG LNG Project, the Treasurer, Hon. Patrick Pruaitch, CMG, MP, said today.
Mr Pruaitch said the big fall in crude oil prices in recent weeks, and a likelihood of a decline in government revenues, made this a challenging time for all levels of leadership in PNG.
In welcoming the Leaders Summit as a good opportunity for the country's leadership and the nation to take stock, Mr Pruaitch said lower crude oil and mineral prices would place a strain on the 2015 budget and inevitably lead to some tightening in fiscal conditions.
He said: "There has been significant change in the global economic scene since I brought down the 2015 budget last November. The big fall in the crude oil price will affect projected export earnings from the PNG LNG Project and affect government revenues.
"This is the first time in five years that government revenue will decline. As leaders we have to be ready for some fiscal belt tightening. We also need to ensure that the record levels of spending planned this year are utilised with the aim of creating maximum impact without wasteful expenditures.
"This should be an important goal for all national, provincial and local level governments, as well as National Government departments. Most analysts are anticipating that crude oil prices will remain low at least for another 12 to 18 months and suggesting that peak prices of recent times may well be a thing of the past."
Minister Pruaitch urged the heads of all government departments to take full responsibility for projects they are undertaking and to ensure there are adequate controls in place on all expenditures so that cost are avoided.
"Many Ministries and Departments in the past have promised to complete priority projects each year but in many cases their implementation has not lived up to expectation," he said.
"I hope the Leaders' Summit would look at ways of ensuring better results all around with improved public service delivery on all fronts.
"This is also a very important year for PNG. We are only months away from hosting the Pacific Games, arguably the most important international event in PNG's calendar. We also need to rededicate ourselves to achieving improved outcomes for the nation as we gear up to celebrate the nation's 40th independence anniversary."
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