PNGBLOGS

by  Therow Zuaru ‎ The economy of the world and the way money is valued, is one of the biggest scams of the universe. Money and wealth are naturally backed by mineral resources, land, and basically physical commodities such as precious metals. But in Papua New Guinea, it is not so. It has created a view on national success as putting priority budget areas on financial assistance. It is amusing to watch our politicians continue to become researchers researching into international financial schemes like WB, IMF, Exim Bank, ADB, EU, Ausaid, UBS, EU for soft loans development funds, financial aid to survive. Virtually for almost 45 years these financial institutions have been the proud sponsor for Papua New Guinea existence. Papua New Guinea has been recipient of foreign assistance since independence and prepare our budgets factoring the aid dynamics into them. Important issue we must look at is the financial assistance has obviously been a primordial source of income for many Papu

by FONTENU BULLETIN Most Papua New Guineans watched the telecast of Wednesdays Parliament seating with utter disgust and disbelieve. I for one was very sickened to hear a response from the Prime Ministers mouth on the floor of the honourable house on the question put to him both by Lae MP John Rosso and Madang MP Brian Kramer. In his responses, he did three reckless and senseless things: 1. He LIED in broad daylight about the total sum of loans 2. He THREATENED to suffocate an entire district from development funds 3. He FORCED everyone to only trust what comes out from his mouth and not from any internationally independent organizations and observers This write-up is a comprehensive analysis that will not only maintain that O’Neill has lied, but will go ahead and expose ALL loans for everyone to calculate and confirm whether O’Neill loan figure of K24 Billion is correct or the reports from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank of K70 Billion and K60 Billion respect

by DAVID LEPI Whilst the recent Oil Search share offloading by the government is attracting a vast array of discussions that are now gaining momentum by the day and the Prime Minister said to make public the facts surrounding the share sales perhaps it might be good we go back where all things started and take a look at the chronology of events. IPIC Loan It started in 2009 from what is known as the largest investment decision ever made by any PNG government. The Somare led government was investing in the 11 billion Exon-Mobil led LNG project in taking up equity of 16.8 percent by borrowing 1.68 billion Australian dollars from a little-known fund called International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) in the Middle Eastern oil state of Abu Dhabi. This took place at a time when the economy was feeling the global credit crunch and a dramatic drop in commodities prices that had made finding funds for new resource projects very uncertain. Arthur Somare, the then state enterprise m

by PAUL FLANAGAN SUMMARY The IMF report indicates the O’Neill government has overstated the growth rate in the PNG economy by 12.7 percentage points during its term. Primarily by 5.9 percentage points in 2014 and a further 5.2 percentage points in 2015 (see graph below). The IMF indicates the PNG economy is K6.3 billion smaller in 2017 than claimed by the government (and K5.4 billion smaller in 2016). This means the debt to GDP ratio is 33.5% in both 2016 and 2017 according to the IMF – above the 30% limit set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The greatest concerns about economic management relate to BPNG’s control of the foreign exchange rate and reserves with more breaches of international norms than admitted. The Governor of the BPNG should explain serious discrepancies between his statements on 25 January (full page adds in the local press on 26 Janaury) and what the IMF report actually stated on 27 January (see below). While commending the government for its actions in

Open Letter to Sir Michael Somare    by JAMES PARAKISAN     Grand Chief, before you bow out of the picture, we need you.  We realize you are 80 years old and you will be retiring from PNG politics in June 2017.  At the same time your influence, stature and leadership is essential during this time of unparalleled corruption.       The current administration is knee-deep in pekpek of its own making.  They’ve done a masterful job of sidelining and silencing Sam Koim, leader of the Task Force Sweep.  Koim was hand-picked by the O’Neill government to spearhead the drive against the corruption pervasive in all levels of government.  Then, ironically, when Koim starts making some headway in addressing government fraud, O’Neill neutralizes him.       Sir Michael, please address two or three of the major corruption issues of the last several years.  Shout out from the rooftops about the abuse of power of the current administration.  It’s been reported once before, but the people o

Congratulations, Mr Polye, on winning the re-count for Kandep district!  We realise sinister political forces were at work to bring about the re-count.  Thankfully you won. PNG needs your leadership now like never before.  As you know we are currently saddled with a limping-along economy that is likely due to corrupt government.  The eyes of all Papua New Guineans are on you to take the lead in challenging the O’Neill administration.       One year ago in the October 8, 2015 edition of the Post Courier you were spot on in your claim that the PNG LNG funds were being parked in an account in Singapore, and not in the Bank of PNG as claimed by the O’Neill administration.  Thank you for bringing that to the light of day. You can’t rest now.  You need to continue to hammer away and demand transparency of  government finances.  In particular you need to focus on the UBS loan, now rolled into a Credit Suisse loan.  Secondly you need to demand full disclosure of the PNG LNG income.

THE LNG LANDOWNERS OPPORTUNITY TO BUY 4.22 % EQUITY FROM THE STATE ENDS ON 30 JUNE 2016; WILL PETER O’NEILL FIND THE MONEY TO MEET THE OBLIGATIONS? by ANDRE BILAK STEVEN PNG is already having a serious cash flow problem, and nothing can be more evidenced than the Minister for Finance James Marape’s statement few weeks ago that all MPs (who supposed to receive K15m DSIP funds) will receive K1 million each for this year. The cash flow crisis is affecting business houses, government departments and households like never before. The Bank of Papua New Guinea has about less than US$1.4 billion in reserves against pending foreign exchange orders of around K4 billion plus and the situation is not improving any sooner. The endless cue for sending funds overseas is unbearable and killing many import reliant businesses in this import-reliant economy. Many learned experts in economic management have advised O’Neill, since early signs of doom emerged, to take remedial actions immedia

Dear Honourable Members of Parliament.  Papua New Guinea is not broke but only one person is holding this country to ransom, and the consequences will adversely affect your political careers. if you allow Peter O'Neil to be in power after 13th June, 2016, the default date of the UBS loan, UBS will likely declare PNG insolvent. Meaning PNG government can print K3 billion but we do not have the foreign currency to convert this printed money. World Bank is already in the country, they are funding roads and infrastructures now, after we've been declared insolvent under Peter O'Neil. World Bank IMF will give us money for Budget Support with the following austerity measures: 1. No DSIP/PSIP 2. NO Free Education and Health Care 3. Budget cut by 60% 4. Customary Land Mobilisation Program The stoppage in DSIP/PSIP funds will affect most the programs you honourable MPs have created and you will end up loosing your seats. Many other consequences you might face. Tuesday is

by SALMA KULI JACOB It is small wonder that the UPNG students burnt stacks of the toiletpaper dailies AKA The National and the Post Courier.   Both of them fail miserably at objective reporting or achieving any kind of balance in giving both sides of the story.  They’re both content with recycling government verbal diarrhea into certified Post Courier or National pekpek, without  checking out the accuracy of anything they’re asked to run.   IFC Loan Approved For PNG.   Or Was It?   The Post Courier led the way in unprofessionalism on 2 May with the following story: This news comes from the Bank of PNG which we all have come to see is in collusion with Peter O’Neill.  Mind you, no nation’s central bank should ever come under political pressure, because this erodes confidence in a central bank to do what’s best for the economy, no matter what the political fallout.  Unfortunately, the big picture of making decisions usually seems to escape our leaders and top level bureau