PM’s office rejects NRI report

The Prime Minister’s office has rebuked the National Research Institute for a report that “should not be respected’’.

A statement issued from the Prime Minister’s media unit and quoting “the Prime Minister’s office’’ follows the issue of a half-yearly report from the institute about the state of the nation’s economy.

The rebuke did not pinpoint any particular aspect that should not be respected, but offered the following remarks:

"GDP growth has been revised downwards from 15.5% to 11.1%. This is due to decline in commodity prices, which is affecting all sectors including the mining and petroleum sector.

"The revision of GDP is supported by BPNG and by the IMF review team who visited PNG last month.

"Also sales of gas from LNG is still proceeding and revenue is still flowing into the country since the first shipment.

"The Government is still receiving its revenue so are royalty and development levies due to landowners and provincial governments.

"NRI must get its facts right before making statements on the economy. Their assessment is based on wrong information and should not be respected.

“Government revenue is affected by the decline in commodity prices just like the companies and countries who depend on revenue from commodities such as oil, gold and agricultural commodities.

"As a responsible Government, it is reviewing its 2015 budget to take account of the drop in revenue.

"Despite the decline and impact on the budget, the economy is still expected to grow at 11%. This is enviable growth by any standard (sic) world."   

Source: 

Press Release