PNG treasury: ‘We are not broke’

PORT MORESBY – Papua New Guinea is not broke, says Treasury Secretary Dairi Vele.

He said this at the 2016 Leadership Summit in Port Moresby yesterday.

To back his statement, Vele said in an in-depth presentation of the state of the economy that the economic growth of Papua New Guinea was among the highest in the world.

“Let me tell you again today that Papua New Guinea is not broke,” he said, adding that the economy was estimated to have grown by 9.9 per cent last year, driven by the ramp up of the full year of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

PNG’s debt to gross domestic product was lower compared with other similar economies, Vele said.

“While the gas sector has supported the growth, the mining and quarrying sector is estimated to have contracted due to the shutdown of the key mines. In addition, activities in agriculture and other non-mining sectors of the economy are also anticipated to have weakened in 2015,” he said.

Vele admitted though that low commodity prices, adverse effects of droughts and the shutdown of the Ok Tedi mine in Western Province had provided setbacks to growth.

“In 2016, growth is still projected to be positive but not as strong as 2015 and the past eight years,” Mr Vele stated.

“This is because activities supporting growth such as higher commodity prices and construction of the PNG LNG Project have come off in addition to LNG production reaching its full capacity and commodity prices trending at low levels.

On January 18, the Post-Courier reported that “whilst the government gave its assurance that the country was not broke, public servants nationwide were not paid their fortnightly wages.

The paper reported panic when many public servants who normally get paid on Wednesday found out that their forthnight salaries were not in their accounts.

Some called the Post-Courier and complained that the country was broke and that the government could not meet its obligation to pay its servants.

But Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan when contacted brushed aside these claims and assured all public servants that they would be paid.

“The delay has been an IT glitch that is now being worked on. Meanwhile this week’s pay is being processed manually.”

- Post Courier/PNC