Journalist in PNG urged to be more precise with figures

Journalists and media houses in the country have been urged to dig deeper into numbers and figures given by the government when talking about the nation's Gross Domestic Product figures amongst others, NBC reports.

Institute of National Affairs Director, Paul Barker, issued this challenge when talking to the media recently.

Mr Barker said journalists must always get independent assessment of what statistics comprise and mean, before reporting it for public consumption.

He said an increase in GDP numbers are just a measure of an economic activity on limited things, and does not necessarily reflect the country's actual wealth distribution.

"So we have a big GDP growth rate, that happens when you start producing and exporting gas, LNG, but of course at this stage we’re not getting any revenue out of that, it’s going to be paying loans by the companies and the government that borrowed for it," Mr Barker said.

"Because you’ve got that economic activity it is recorded in our GDP figures.

"There is no revenue at this stage going into the government to be redistributed, there no jobs after the construction phase, and it’s relatively few but if you look at the figures, 2014 2015, big growth figures but you need to realize what’s behind those figures and the relevance of those figures," he said.

NBC News/ PNG Today