Statement by PNG Treasurer , Ling-Stuckey “I am passionate about improving health service delivery in PNG. My latest Christmas message – quoted in full below - reflected on how PNG’s politicians and some bureaucrats are letting down our health workers and doctors. On almost all health indicators, PNG ranks in the bottom few of the 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This must be turned around. So I was greatly disappointed when I discovered that the O’Neill regime’s record of economic mismanagement has put at risk $US100 million – or some K320 million – in budget support from the ADB which was expected in November. On top of his fake “free health care” policy, and massive cuts to the health sector since 2015, we now have the prospect of the O’Neill legacy threatening to at least delay K320 million in cheap, well-designed, health policy reform assistance. This is just another part of the disgraceful mess left by the O’Neill regime which we are discovering as we do a due diligence check of his cooked books” stated the Minister for Treasury, Ian Ling-Stuckey. “The ADB has been an extremely valuable partner for PNG. It has been supporting development in our country since even before our Independence. It has taken on difficult tasks that others feared. It has stuck with us through good times and bad. 2019 was the second year of a major program of health sector reform totalling just over K1,000 million from 2018 to 2020. This was a policy-based loan – PNG gets budget support if it meets certain health and budget reform conditions. All required health reforms had been undertaken. However, the extraordinary economic mismanagement of the O’Neill regime means we have not met the required standards for budget policy – indeed, the recent investigations of the true state of the books indicates PNG has been going backwards in terms of budget deficits and public debt levels. The loan is at risk. “Given this background, there was a very important meeting on Thursday 19 September between senior visiting ADB staff and the Prime Minister, the Minister for National Planning and Implementation, the Minister for State Owned Enterprises, and myself. The meeting was productive with a frank sharing of information on how fragile PNG’s budget position had become. We outlined specific proposals for how we planned to turn the situation around – we need to expose the truth and propose sensible solutions. This includes actions in a planned Supplementary Budget so that PNG starts to live within its means again. I and my officials will continue to work closely with the ADB to help restore confidence and build on the ADB’s valuable work in PNG. “As part of restoring confidence and getting growth going, the meeting also discussed options for the ADB supporting with SOE reform. Minister Muthuvel has been leading these negotiations and is building a good reform agenda for our SOEs to deliver better services and to provide some of the key enablers of growth such as reliable power supplies and cheaper, faster communication systems. “The ADB is one of our most valuable international supporters. I am disappointed that fake figures from the O’Neill regime has threatened trust. I will be working with my economic ministerial colleagues to ensure that this trust is restored, and that our positive relationship with the ADB continues to expand with cheap, good loans focused on our development priorities” stated Mr Ling-Stuckey. Hon.Ian Ling-Stuckey,CMG.MP Minister for Treasury 25 September 2019 Next: Japanese Naval Ships To Visit PNG's East New Britian Comments are closed.
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