Posts

Showing posts with the label Bakani

GOVERNMENT’S CREDIBILITY WITH INVESTORS AT ROCK BOTTOM: INEPT FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT BY O’NEILL, PRUAITCH AND MARAPE PREDICTS LOOMING ECONOMIC DISASTER

Image
by WILSON TALAG “For a small country whose economy is heavily dependent on volatile commodity prices to  borrow heavily hoping that commodity prices will remain high is the pinnacle of stupidity.” Smart investors are not anywhere as dumb as the average Papua New Guinean citizen whenever  Prime Minister Peter O’Neill speaks.   O’Neill can utter complete lies about the PNG economy and government budget to the public and people will take his words at face value.  Foreign investors and the foreign owned private sector in PNG make good money because they are not so gullible.  They check things out and what they have learnt is disturbing.  The Prime Minister himself does not understand this reality and continues to present only information he wants the investors to hear.  But the investors are wise to his tricks and overall investor confidence in PNG has plummeted close to nil if the side comments of investors are to be taken at face value.    Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minist

SLIPPERY SLOPE, PNG EFFECTIVELY PRINTING MONEY TO FUND DEFICIT BUDGET - HYPERINFLATION ANYONE?

Image
by PAUL FLANAGAN In an article for the ANU’s Development Policy Centre eighteen months ago (see here) , I congratulated PNG’s central bank (BPNG) for its very constructive stance in stopping its effective printing of money to fund the government’s budget deficit. I noted how this reflected positively on the independence of BPNG, an independence built into its charter by Sir Mekere Morauta (PNG’s former Prime Minister) and Sir Wilson Kamit (PNG’s central bank governor from 1999 to 2009) in response to PNG’s last major economic crisis in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, this independent role appears to have been reversed from the start of this year. Based on the latest Quarterly Economic Bulletin released on 18 November 2016 and its accompanying tables (esp Table 2-3 for BPNG’s assets sheet see here ) PNG appears to have returned to a very slippery slope of effectively printing money by back-stopping auctions in government securities – a practice initially warned about in September 2

JUNE 13TH 2016, MARK THAT DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR

Image
by GOVERNMENT INSIDER The Swiss bank UBS struck a massively controversial deal to land the PNG government with a 10 per cent stake in ASX and PNG-listed company Oil Search.  The shares as you all know costed PNG A$1.2 billion, a staggering 8 per cent of our GDP. UBS insiders describe this deal as one of the "most amazing deals" the bank has ever done due to the staggering 12.3% interest they are earning from us.  This rate is well above an average commercial banks interest rate. Others, however, say the amazing part is that the bank was able to get away with it. This lucrative deal, the PM has coerced The National Petroleum Company Board to sign on an Irrevocable Escrow Agreement to keep our 19.4% LNG revenue in a Singapore Bank account as a collateral to the collar Loan, managed/Controlled by UBS According to the Clause 14.  Of the UBS Collar Loan Agreement dated 12 March 2014, UBS AG Australia Branch will appoint a Receiver Manager to sell the Oil Search Sha

Proliferation of Corruption Unhindered has Raised its Ugly Head in the Courtroom Resulting in Impaired Judgments and Normalization of Corruption by Venerate Judges

Image
by LEKEM LAKI The Deputy Chief Justice his Honour Gibs Salika rightly said in the national paper dated 14th March 2016 titled “Graft a disease” and he referred to the level of corruption rampant in the country cutting across every sector of PNG society. In that he meant to say, corruption isn’t “growing but is overgrown”. The concern raised is alarming in nature but it doesn’t become a cause of concern or raises goose bumps. The corruption is entrenched and deeply embedded in every stratum of government bureaucracy and agencies. The practice is normalised and given the longevity in continued practice, it has become a norm or second nature if you like to people who practice. With the proliferation of corruption, people aren’t remorseful or let alone raise goose bumps. The Department of Justice and Attorney General Secretary Dr. Lawrence Kalinoe refused Damarua’s request to engage private law firm. Damarua and the entire Fraud Squad team aren’t fighting tooth an