Treasurer Ling-Stuckey's Statement drives PNG Businesses and Economy further down, says O'Neill
Former Papua New Guinea prime minister and the leader of the People’s National Congress Party, Peter O’Neill, says the Treasurer has failed to reassure the Nation that this government has an Economic Recovery Plan to dig its way out of the SOE mess it put the country into.
The Treasurer’s responses to my questions in Parliament, will further erode confidence in the Nation’s fragile economic situation and rattle the confidence of the business community and international investors.
“In Parliament he said nothing concrete about what will be done, just what he wants to do if only he had the funding, which he does not.
“All the Treasurer has done is to confirm that more foreigner advisors are doing expensive reviews and making empty spending promises that they know full well they cannot afford.
“He does not trust his own Treasury officials, but relies on foreign consultants, who are acting outside the laws of our country by negotiating directly with international organisations.
“The Treasurer has been forced to admit that the level of financing it had expected from the ADB Partial Credit Guarantee Bond has been cut by US$110 million.
“How is that the Treasurer, the equivalent of our country’s Chief Financial Officer, could fail so badly after everything he has said in relation to securing funding from the ADB and other multilateral lenders?
“Last week, he refused to admit the secret US$364 million loan that his foreign consultants were negotiating with the International Monetary Fund, blatantly and illegally bypassing Papua New Guinean Officers in Treasury Department.
“His statements on Friday and today were about more blame shifting and passing the buck, but nothing that gives any confidence to business to start reinvesting and employing Papua New Guineans.”
Mr. O’Neill said the bottom line is that the economy is in a mess due to the backward, business-killing SOE, and because the Marape-Steven Government has failed to negotiate major resources projects.
“According to Marape, the government is now willing to shelve plans to negotiate revenue and jobs-critical mega-projects like Wafi-Golpu, Papua LNG and P’nyang for several years.
“Marape and Ling-Stuckey are trying to keep everyone happy with their false promises. This is not sound economic leadership and every day is eroding confidence in our economy domestically and internationally.
“The government has shut down businesses under this nonsense SOE, meaning that businesses both big and small, cannot confidently plan to increase their investments and create new jobs.
“If it was serious about getting the economy moving, this government would reduce all of these restrictions on business and get back to the negotiating table with resources investors.
“If they would stop sitting on their hands and get major projects moving, this would provide further confidence to business to start planning and investing now in the domestic economy as these projects move forward.
“They have to stop the roadblocks on the Highlands Highway that are preventing agricultural goods from getting to market. All the subsidies in the world mean nothing when agricultural goods are prevented from leaving provinces because the roadblocks are still in place.
“The Treasurer has admitted that exports are already down by 15 per cent, and tax revenues are worse than they told us by more than K2.2 billion, and this does not even include the revenue lost because of the attempted nationalization of the Porgera mine.
“This bad decision alone is losing around K100 million each month for the country, Enga Province and Porgera landowners.
“The government is behaving arrogantly to beat up support to nationalize existing mines and not genuinely negotiating essential new projects under the veil of ‘taking back PNG.’
“All they are doing is taking PNG backwards and they are doing this fast.
“All the while instructed by foreigners, they are running to the IMF for bailouts, taking very expensive loans through local Bonds and destroying any chance of future revenues to pay back these borrowings.
“This is a strategy that is doomed to failure the likes of which we have never seen before, simply borrowing big to pay back promises to cronies without building revenue and jobs in the country.”
Next : East Sepik Province 1st Cybercrime case
The Treasurer’s responses to my questions in Parliament, will further erode confidence in the Nation’s fragile economic situation and rattle the confidence of the business community and international investors.“In Parliament he said nothing concrete about what will be done, just what he wants to do if only he had the funding, which he does not.
“All the Treasurer has done is to confirm that more foreigner advisors are doing expensive reviews and making empty spending promises that they know full well they cannot afford.
“He does not trust his own Treasury officials, but relies on foreign consultants, who are acting outside the laws of our country by negotiating directly with international organisations.
“The Treasurer has been forced to admit that the level of financing it had expected from the ADB Partial Credit Guarantee Bond has been cut by US$110 million.
“How is that the Treasurer, the equivalent of our country’s Chief Financial Officer, could fail so badly after everything he has said in relation to securing funding from the ADB and other multilateral lenders?
“Last week, he refused to admit the secret US$364 million loan that his foreign consultants were negotiating with the International Monetary Fund, blatantly and illegally bypassing Papua New Guinean Officers in Treasury Department.
“His statements on Friday and today were about more blame shifting and passing the buck, but nothing that gives any confidence to business to start reinvesting and employing Papua New Guineans.”
Mr. O’Neill said the bottom line is that the economy is in a mess due to the backward, business-killing SOE, and because the Marape-Steven Government has failed to negotiate major resources projects.
“According to Marape, the government is now willing to shelve plans to negotiate revenue and jobs-critical mega-projects like Wafi-Golpu, Papua LNG and P’nyang for several years.
“Marape and Ling-Stuckey are trying to keep everyone happy with their false promises. This is not sound economic leadership and every day is eroding confidence in our economy domestically and internationally.
“The government has shut down businesses under this nonsense SOE, meaning that businesses both big and small, cannot confidently plan to increase their investments and create new jobs.
“If it was serious about getting the economy moving, this government would reduce all of these restrictions on business and get back to the negotiating table with resources investors.
“If they would stop sitting on their hands and get major projects moving, this would provide further confidence to business to start planning and investing now in the domestic economy as these projects move forward.
“They have to stop the roadblocks on the Highlands Highway that are preventing agricultural goods from getting to market. All the subsidies in the world mean nothing when agricultural goods are prevented from leaving provinces because the roadblocks are still in place.
“The Treasurer has admitted that exports are already down by 15 per cent, and tax revenues are worse than they told us by more than K2.2 billion, and this does not even include the revenue lost because of the attempted nationalization of the Porgera mine.
“This bad decision alone is losing around K100 million each month for the country, Enga Province and Porgera landowners.
“The government is behaving arrogantly to beat up support to nationalize existing mines and not genuinely negotiating essential new projects under the veil of ‘taking back PNG.’
“All they are doing is taking PNG backwards and they are doing this fast.
“All the while instructed by foreigners, they are running to the IMF for bailouts, taking very expensive loans through local Bonds and destroying any chance of future revenues to pay back these borrowings.
“This is a strategy that is doomed to failure the likes of which we have never seen before, simply borrowing big to pay back promises to cronies without building revenue and jobs in the country.”
Next : East Sepik Province 1st Cybercrime case
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