Opposition 2013 Budget Overview Hon. Sam Basil MP, Deputy Opposition Leader, Member for Bulolo BONES DRESSED UP AS LAMBFLAPS 1. Introduction On behalf of the Opposition, please allow me to address the 2013 Budget from a perspective we understand, to be more realistic for the people of Papua New Guinea and the direct approach we would take, to benefit citizens of this country and the economy as a whole. I acknowledge the sentiments of Minister for Treasury in his 2013 Budget address that education, health, infrastructure and law and order are the priorities for us as members. I, as a member, firmly believe agriculture must also be of paramount importance and not as a supportive agenda to the already four mentioned priorities, given our growing population, a fertile rich country and putting processes in place to be independent of anyone, in providing and giving mandates to our people to be providers to each other through accelerated funding programs in the agricultural industry; after all, this is the logical norm as most of our population live in the rural sectors and have always provided for families through subsistence farming. Since the Ministers 2013 Budget address, there has been no visible attrition to education, health, infrastructure and law and order; proactive funding in these areas has been found wanting and our people are suffering from the broken promises that the current coalition government has put forward. PNG is on the verge of the announcement by the Treasurer of the 2014 Budget and you can quote me when I say, it will be repetitive of the 2013 Budget, to hide the discrepancies behind it. Members only have to look in their own electorate and those that voted for them, to reiterate what I just said: i) The free education that the previous O’Neil/Namah Government put in place, has had its processes decreased and/or removed by the current People’s National Congress (PNC)-led Government and it is no longer a success as envisioned; ii) The increase in health issues has only been exacerbated by the current figures provided. iii) Infrastructure development has been lacking with the major projects not even being developed through assumed lack of funding; and iv) Law and order is at a point where our custodians in the Royal PNG Constabulary and Correctional Services are finding it difficult to curb the increasing crime rates because they have not been giving the adequate financial support needed, to curb an overriding social problem. But in saying this, I would like to commend their actions in apprehending William Kapris, under the non-financial difficulties already raised. The 2013 Budget was described as the “People’s Budget”. There was an enormous amount of what looked like substantial detail that would provide for the best outcomes for the people of the proud State of Papua New Guinea. To this day, these outcomes have not occurred and citizens of this country are not fooled by the exaggerated progress stated by the current coalition government. The whole of the 2013 Budget is based upon Treasury raising the required funds to cover the K2.7B deficit otherwise the commitments made cannot be delivered. To date, these commitments have yet to be delivered and 2013 Budget is NOT a people’s budget but a POLITICAL budget!! To quote the Treasurer, “we are the custodians of our people” but if that is the case, the current coalition government have not led by example in their mundane progresses because they are concentrating solely on attempts to gag the parliament on the day and take further steps to an anarchical situation, not in the best interest of the country and the 2013 Budget is one of many platforms the PNC-led government are using for this very purpose. And if we all remember correctly, the PNC led Govt under the former Prime Minister, Bill Skate, pushed Papua New Guinea into the brink of deficit mismanagement, a scenario we are now currently facing all over again with the same party. 2. State of Economy The 2013 Budget was based on the assumptions of a recovery in the global economy and acid testing should have been made on the best-case scenario and the worst case scenario, either side of the 2013 Budget so as to cover any discrepancies to these assumptions. The 2013 Budget was conditional on the underpinning of development and growth and surety for the people on the following factors (Page 15 of 2013 Budget): i) Potential disruptions to the global economy having a negative effect on PNG’s trade and Government revenues; ii) Volatility in commodity prices amounting to lower revenues; iii) Disruptions to existing agricultural, mining and petroleum projects including the PNG LNG project; and iv) Difficulties in meeting the financial requirements of the 2013 Budget. Assuming the low commodity price assumptions have been factored by Treasury, they have not further factored that commodity prices have fallen alot lower than the budget assumptions used for the average price of the commodities and with all time lows in resource minerals, ie. Gold prices plummeting to US$1,388.00 p/o, Copper at US$3.29, Oil at US$110.14 p/b and even commodity prices at a low with coffee at US$113.95, cocoa at US$2,544 and palm oil at US$2,431 (Figures are from NASDAQ website, 09/09/2013), the 2013 Budget will be further corrected: i) To meet the overzealous borrowing that the O’Neil/Dion Government have exposed Papua New Guinea to; ii) To offset the increase in mining companies such as Newcrest Mining Ltd. writing down its stock value by US$1.3 Billion and maybe, leaving our shores because of the low current resource prices; and iii) Enhance an already diffusing agricultural industry which is further exposed to low international prices even though our sales have increased in this area. A logical decision would be to redirect revenues from the resources and mining sector to sectors like agriculture. What the PNC-led government failed to acknowledge is that major billion Kina mining projects have been written down in net asset value and will not reach construction in the next 5 years, the same term of the current government if they don’t face a vote of no confidence. The Frieda, Yandera and Wafi-Golpu projects will remain stagnant and with other mines like Lihir going to ore stockpile processing, Porgera with probably less than a decade of reserves remaining and Ok Tedi looking to crawl to the end of 2020 and being taken over by a coalition government hell-bent on covering up their spending, we may be heading for something the Prime Minister and coalition Government may not be able to address within the next 2-3 years, the stated fact that our deficit is far worse than the PGK2.7 Billion predicted and will worsen well into 2014 and 2015. This is why I reiterate that we also need to prioritise the agricultural industry for the country’s development and economic stability, to complement our ever-reliant mining and resources industry so that economic gaps are filled in the event of what we are currently facing; low global prices facing resource mining companies who we rely on for contributing to the revenue into the government accounts. This only captures the fact that of the four factors that the Treasurer ensured for the development and growth and surety for our people in the 2013 Budget i), iii) and iv) assumptions are within the control of the State yet have not been controlled or adhered to, due to reasons only known to the Treasury and the O’Neil/Dion Government. The 2013 Budget is failing Papua New Guinea and the Treasury needs to be partly blamed for this! Given the uncertainty globally and all the claims by the PNC-led Government and Treasury that they prudently manage the economy, there is great discord that Treasury did not conservatively forecast for commodity price declines. Revenues will be lower as a result of the commodity price declines so therefore the anticipated deficit will actually be greater and further away from the reach of covering the deficit which will be further reflected in the announcement of the 2014 Budget. The discrepancies by the Treasury will be reflected in a downfall of the GDP growth (real growth) forecast of 4% in the 2013 Budget; yes they have projected it as 5%, as per the statement made by Governor of Bank of PNG, but this will go further to my predicted figure! The Opposition feels that GDP growth will be far lower based on the reasons I have already stated and the rebound of 5.5% in 2014, as predicted by those in the coalition government will not occur unless we make changes to put us back on the level playing track. We, the Opposition, was looking forward to the 2013 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook and its release on 31st July 2013 only reiterated what the Opposition knows, especially when the current real GDP growth has not been publicly announced, just projections! In terms of inflation, the Bank of PNG, in its media release of 01st July 2013, stated that the annual headline inflation has increased to 3.2% in the June Quarter of 2013. The Opposition does not feel that it would increase to the predicted 8% that Treasurer, has predicted because of the visible prediction of an appreciation of the Kina against other currencies due to continuous low import demand, lower demand for foreign exchange and higher foreign exchange inflows as a result of the LNG sector construction project winding down. This is surely being seen in our foreign exchange rate depreciations against other currencies. This was proven when Treasurer Hon Polye, at his speech to the Chamber of Commerce & Industry on August 01st 2013, revised it to the appropriate inflation figure of 5.6% but our reasons are different to his in that there will be no excess inflation nor would there be, when most money was spent offshore and the contractors have imported workers sending the salaries home to their families. The PNC-led Government through advice from Bank of PNG and Treasury scared the nation about high inflation through the LNG generated “Dutch disease” to try to hide what was happening with the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and the funds sitting at Bank of PNG for stabilisation. The “Dutch disease” argument by Treasury and Bank of PNG is less true when it can be demonstrated that Bank of PNG have only just released their 2011 annual report and we are in 2013, and Treasury has not raised any of the funds needed for the deficit but want to retain control over the SWF that needs to be spent to get development outcomes in PNG. The whole budget discussion on the SWF and the Stabilisation Fund is not delivering anything for the people now when it should be and even though the Opposition acknowledge that inflation will continue to increase to about 5.5% in 2013, it will only be because of the current PNC-led Government’s high expenditure spending and the high debt financing associated to the State will only derail the 2013 Budget’s promise of sustaining development and economic growth for Papua New Guinea. 3. Budget Strategy The budget strategy underlying the 2013 Budget seems to rely heavily on the fact that a lot of debt financing is internationally highly geared, to support O’Neil’s Alotau Accord. I am of the view that, to promote development and economic growth, support macroeconomic stability and addressing significant needs of our country-Papua New Guinea, we do need adequate debt financing but not at the expense of selling ourselves short of being vulnerable to those who provide the debt financing. Furthermore, the Opposition firmly believe that the debt financing needed, should take into consideration the large domestic financing sources we have access to rather than acquiring all the debt financing in the international financial markets. The access to domestic funding sources would be reflected in: • Lower costs in real terms that do not involve the high cost associated with exchange rate movements; • Fewer risks due to the risk premium associated with low sovereign credit rated countries like Papua New Guinea; and • The opportunity to enhance an already vibrant domestic financial market An example of the latter is that the development of Treasury Bonds and the Treasury Inscribed Stock be sold on a secondary market like Port Moresby Stock Exchange (POMSox), to acquire the funding from the domestic superannuation funds, the local corporations, the Non-Government Agencies and the ordinary Papua New Guinean families who would willingly invest into the country’s growing economy. The Opposition would move on building a domestic bonds market so that the State’s debt financing objectives would be met and maybe we wouldn’t be open to such a large high-risk international debt financing portfolio. We already have a precedent in place with a domestic debt instrument called the Sovereign Community Infrastructure Bond (SCITB) which was funded by the well renowned superannuation fund NASFUND and went to the infrastructure development in East New Britain; I recall Deputy Prime Minister Dion acknowledging this proactive instrument for the betterment of his Province under the services of the previous Minister for Communications, the late Tammur, God rest his soul, but to this day, why isn’t the Treasury and the Bank of PNG for that matter, supporting more of these SCITB’s or are they not doing so because it wasn’t their idea? This is quite hypocritical when both BPNG and the Treasury, act in one manner but make statements on another matter, a perfect definition of the current 2013 Budget. With the recent amendments to the Treasury Bill Act (18/07/2013), the hypocritical manners of Treasury and the Bank of PNG might be curbed but one question is posed, by giving power to Parliament to approve the issuance of treasury bills, I understand transparency and good governance associated with this, but hasn’t the Treasurer foregone his mandate to issue treasury bills, especially like equitable investment constructions of the SCITB calibre, and basically deferred all his powers to Parliament and therefore making the Treasurer position no longer in effect? To date, even though it has been mandated to act on this, Treasury have not progressed on the proactive debt financing in the domestic market and the following must occur, for the development of the bond domestic market: a. There seems to be a sole reliance by Treasury on using superannuation funds to assist in supporting its deficit funding problems despite never admitting it made a mistake in interpreting the law on Treasury Bills; this is specifically the case for NASFUND where the Treasury failed in their duty to bring about bond market changes to Papua New Guinea for the betterment of Papua New Guinea, while ignoring Nambawan Super and the un-contributed super shortfall that Treasury has in the budget every year but no plans to actually pay for this, b. There are changes to the Treasury Bill act proposal that demonstrates Treasury did not understand the legislation as written and the role of the Treasurer in this process, the application of this law by the Bank of PNG, the courts findings about the interpretation of the law, and most importantly the fact that Treasury want to define a Treasury Bill as a “loan” where around the world in all developed and developing nations a Treasury Bill is a security – a change in the definition to loan will have impacts on the banks buying of treasury bills and that of savings and loans buying treasury bills and also the superfund’s, as it will need to be classed as a loan and Bank of PNG will need to ensure that the standards are met for loans for all these groups that are regulated. This has been the failing of the Treasury whereby they claim to be the saviour for all things but fail over and over for the people of Papua New Guinea and like the Dept of Finance, the Dept of Treasury needs to be cleaned out so that more stringent logical approaches need to be enabled. Because of these underlying processes, the 2013 Budget will not deliver for Papua New Guinea and its citizens because of: a. Treasury’s current failure to raise additional funds domestically for the deficit because of past mistakes made within Treasury to control outcomes, b. The failure of the USD$500M bond issue where Treasury appointed 3 global investment banks to assist and nothing could be achieved to help raise the K1B needed to allocate against the budget deficit, c. The failure of Treasury to actually recognise that development loans serve no underpinning of value for the development of the state. In parliament the actual detail of the development loans are never fully presented for scrutiny by the public. The reason being is that the development loans Treasury have been eager to sign on for look wonderful on paper with no interest for a period, low interest thereafter, long payback period. But what Treasury fail to understand (or hide from the public) is that the conditions around the loans means that the cost of the funds are actually much greater than the published interest rate, a lot of the money actually stays with the development loan provider as it is there people that are then employed to study and make recommendations and contract decisions which usually go to an approved aid contractor which may be owned by the aid agency in some degree or has political influence with the aid agency, there is a restriction on how the funds are spent and in what amounts per annum which actually inhibits development progress for the people. An example of this failure was the announcement on the Chinese K6B loan with EXIM Bank and no details were provided. It is however understood that the “concessional loan” required 50% of it to go to Chinese contractors to work within PNG and the balance of the funds to be spent with approval by EXIM bank thereby reducing the effectiveness and actual transparency of this loan. This also adds to a massive debt matter where the debt level is not the issue but the form of the debt and this further adds to the contradiction that the 2013 Budget is the people’s budget and will make PNG far worse off, in terms of sustainability and economic growth. I will make further comment on behalf of the Opposition on the 2013 Budget in terms of Expenditure and Revenue reforms, Revenue, Taxation measures, the Government’s responsibility for empowering people, the Nation Building projects and reiterate issues in the 2013 Budget that contradict the PNC-led Govt objectives to promote development and economic growth, support macroeconomic stability and addressing significant needs of our country-Papua New Guinea. But in terms of the Opposition’s solutions and alternatives, we know what is needed to change the huge deficit precipice of where the 2013 Budget is taking our beloved country to but I’m sure the PNC-led government are far too busy trying to drown us in a huge debt situation to consider these. 4. Expenditure and Revenue Reforms With the Expenditure & Revenue Reforms, we acknowledge that the Public Finance Management Act needs to be reviewed and updated along with the reduction of 117 agencies to under 100 by 2014, e.g., the Office of Rural Development merging with the Dept. of Rural Development & Planning. Furthermore, the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy that has been put forward by Minister for Treasury/Treasurer, Hon. Don Polye, is acknowledged by the Opposition but it goes back to the initial problem of the assumptions that have been put forward. The current economic status of Papua New Guinea is not marrying up to these assumptions and the reforms will not improve the delivery of services. Added to this the Treasurer, thinks he will but what capacity is put in place where he thinks he will “increase responsibilities away from Waigani” when he will be lacking in terms of budgetary expectations to “make Waigani efficient”. An alternative that the Opposition put forward is that Private-Public relationships need to be further revitalised, prioritised and supported; this is so that the tendencies of Department to turn themselves into Statutory Authorities to improve pay and conditions and move away from some of the controls of Public Finance Management Act can all be compromised and accorded to. Another reform the Opposition are supportive of is the SWF but as already stated, it should start delivering as soon as possible, for Papua New Guinea and we have not heard anything about it this year, even though it is factored into the 2013 Budget in terms of implementation. The reality for Papua New Guinea and the SWF is the contradiction that we are saving for future generations where development and actual service delivery is not being provided to the current generations, especially now when we are looking at a budget deficit blowout in 2013 and will look to get larger in 2014. There has to be continuous review and public updates of how the SWF will be managed properly for development as the funds mandated to it will be more rewarding for the country than allowing political friends to try to manage this fund. We also need to make the SWF conforming to Papua New Guinea’s requirements as it seems to be an idea developed by external advisors for their benefit without any understanding of the country that is us, Papua New Guinea. 5. Revenue With the reliability on the discrepant assumptions of the 2013 budget by the PNC-led government and the factual reasoning’s I have already stated, the anticipated total revenue and Grants in 2013 of K10.5 billion will not occur. This will be further reflected in 2014 when we will not meet the expected revenue of K11.3 billion as PNG goes further into deficit because of the mismanagement by the current PNC-led government. We will no longer mention the revenues connected to the 2013 budget as our prediction is that it will be far less than predicted and my bold statement is that we will be in deficit by K5Billion-K7Billion by the end of 2013. 6. Taxation Measures In terms of taxation measures, we the Opposition are supportive of lifting the tax free threshold from K7, 000 to K10, 000 but feel that it should be further increased to K15, 000, if not K20, 000, to assist our citizens to be more diligent in terms of their Savings and investment thinking and giving them excess cash, to look after themselves and their family’s standard of living. The support stops here as we do not believe in relaxing tariffs in the PNC-led Govt’s 2013 Budget program because it will not contain inflationary pressures based on the arguments I have put to the floor but disadvantage Papua New Guineans and local businesses from experiencing growth and being competitive against the international companies. One example of why the Opposition would not relax tariffs is in our industrial and manufacturing sector where we need to protects local businesses to teach and support our citizens in promoting mechanical skills. This is especially the case in substantially increasing import duties where our mining and resources sector have opportunities in maintenance requirements and repair services that can be given to local businesses and not those businesses that are based overseas. The exporting of hard currency and jobs out of Papua New Guinea means that Papua New Guinea is missing out on the revenue and the upskilling of our citizens; Papua New Guinea should be supporting local companies to ensure we have our own industries and expertise to do these maintenance requirements and tariffs in these sectors will greatly assist in keeping jobs in our country. Tariffs, other forms of restrictions and the government of the day needs to support local companies in job and teaching opportunities for PNG citizens and this will create a lot of employment opportunities for the local population and also increase revenue generating activities for the government. We, the Opposition is of the belief that import restrictions need to occur, through tariffs and associated instruments; by doing so, the government of the day can support the existence of local industry and develop an education ideal through increasing the number of apprenticeships and University student practical experience. This will add to the amount of investment involved in helping local industry achieve its goals and promoting the economic development of this country, one of the objectives of the PNC-led government. 7. National Governments responsibility for empowering people With the predicted blowout in the 2013 Budget deficit and it being transferred exponentially into the 2014 Budget, the PNC-led government will break their promises to the people of Papua New Guinea and the budget will be overspent with little to show for the allocated K13 Billion within the budget; their commitments according to their Alotau Accord are visibly failing and how can they empower our citizens when everything is lacking in free education, free health, mundane infrastructure growth and increasing law and order problems. 8. Nation Building projects for growing our future-Our Infrastructure I mentioned the mundane infrastructure growth and the PNC-led Government has committed to various “political” infrastructure contracts that they do not have the funds for as it is known there are several “consultants” wandering the world looking for funding partners. If the budget is a political one, it is also a budget for some developers as well who have been awarded large contracts for road infrastructure within Port Moresby (POM) without regard to the essence of the budget infrastructure road development, “people’s” needs of opening up markets and corridors of development throughout the entire country. Might I add that these developers shouldn’t be contracted because of their international “blacklisting” due to the facts that these developers have paid, to acquire their contracts; over to you NCD Governor to justify yourself? The priority funding projects that were published on page 118 of the 2013 Budget to be paid and started in 2013 have not been, nor has there been any update on them with priority changing to encompass certain aspects; this is the norm, reflective in POM and its current road upgrades and contracts. 9. Issues in the 2013 Budget that contradict the PNC-led Govt objectives to promote development and economic growth, support macroeconomic stability and addressing significant needs of PNG Before I conclude on the Opposition’s overview to the 2013 Budget, I will make further note of certain issues within the budget that contradict the PNC-led Govt objectives to promote development and economic growth, support macroeconomic stability and addressing significant needs of our country, Papua New Guinea. If I am repeating myself, it is only to reiterate the wrongs of the budget and hopefully, the PNC-led government can accept constructive criticism and make appropriate changes in light of the 2013 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook Review: • On Page 2 – Projection of Commodity Prices The actual prices are greatly below those forecasted. Given the uncertainty globally and all the claims by the Government and Treasury that they prudently manage the economy, there is great fears that Treasury did not conservatively forecast for commodity price declines. Revenues will be lower as a result of the commodity price declines so therefore the anticipated deficit will actually be greater and further away from the reach of covering the deficit. • On Page 2 – Law and Order Law and Order is a key to development socially and economically but there has been little actual tangible law and order improvements and little detail about what is actually going to be implemented to ensure law and order is contained as per world standards. • On Page 3 – K500M Trust Acct There was K500M in a trust account allocated for the LNG project several years ago but there is nothing within the budget that shows these funds. How were these funds spent and where they spent on the project and when. • On Page 7 – Private sector development Private Sector Development is a hard area to get right and be of a standard where law and order is still a problem. Furthermore the developed world and private sector in Papua New Guinea can see double standards like Bank South Pacific (BSP) having effective control of the stock exchange and self-regulation therefore can control the situation. Eg. BSP, as a public listed company, paid its dividend last month but made no attempt to announce the dividend and ex dividend date either on the exchange or on their website. If private sector is to develop and do so according to regulations for that development, companies such as BSP should be accountable for their breaches. • On Page 8 – Development Strategy Development Strategy is not working as it has been seen and stated that unless you are on the government side then provinces and districts don’t get development funding. This is not a budget and plan for the country but a specific political agenda where democracy is obviously not of concern. Raises the questions if other areas have been overcommitted then the government cannot afford these payments although the Opposition MPs have suffered with respective constituents. • On Page 9 – Returning to surplus It is not likely to occur by the 2017 forecast for the reasons already given. If the deficit is not raised this year then the time frame cannot be met unless the government change how much it is going to spend and then which are the priority sectors that will miss out; it will be education, health or law and order as it won’t be road construction which seems to be the only priority. • On Page 10 and 11 – Sovereign Wealth Fund SWF is a pet of both Treasury and BPNG. All comments and focus is on this being implemented. The reality for PNG however is that it appears that the “Dutch disease” call is to allow Treasury and Bank of PNG to try to control the SWF matter without regard for the citizens of Papua New Guinea who deserve those funds spent on them. • Page 60 - Management of the trust funds What specifically are these trust funds for, that have money enter them but never get spent on the projects they are designed for. Then after a period of time, the funds start to slowly disappear but the projects are never delivered. There is a need for an external group to assess the trusts accounts and then manage them for the purpose they were set up to provide for. The Secretary for Treasury seems to run his own kingdom based on his signoff ability and also his resolve to do what is right for him and not the people who are the contributors and therefore the recipients of those funds. • Page 55/57- Dept of Treasury Operations What Treasury have done is disguise their massive budgetary increases amongst all areas of the nation and only serves themselves in terms of advice and behaviour. Treasury and Finance are to receive a little under K1B for their operations and programs and personal emoluments. The fact is there is a 55% increase in personal emoluments for Treasury just in 2013. This is almost 50% of the budget deficit in this one area and the 2013 Budget has demonstrated and proven that they’re not capable and don’t apply the standards or requirements they speak of regarding others to themselves and are completely unaccountable. What this means is that they continually talk and ask for travel, study, development and advisory help but don’t do anything with it, they change laws or try to when it is applied as has been since independence; this provides the nation with a clear understanding that the treasury department has not been doing its job, and are held unaccountable as there is no designated Body overseeing this group. • Page 66 – Dept. of Treasury Plan Treasury look to undertake a plan that will not see outcomes and has not seen outcomes as a result of the lack of commercial experience in this area. The advisors that Treasury have used in terms of overseas economists and those groups that play the political game have achieved nothing for the country. The direct plan to use superannuation fund money is not believable as this has been done before and where politically the Treasury officials did not agree with the law they simply made political mileage out of incorrect and false information. They develop rumour to get their outcome and no financing has been achieved for the budget deficit due to the lack of ability to deliver the financing. It is the role of the opposition to be critical of the government. What has been explained in these issues is not just critical statements but obvious errors and processes and procedures that means the PNC-led government will not deliver on the commitments but continue to make politically appealing promises. And being popular is not the right thing if nothing flows to the people of this nation. Conclusion This PNC-led Government has made lots of commitments and comments about how it is developing this nation. But in reality, 12 months into this government, they are great at talk and poor at delivery. In fact the scorecard shows that there has been no significant development that has been completed or near completion and of those developments, the definition of temporary only glorifies it. The delivery of the budget is about actual delivery; there is no way that the 2013 budget will be delivered and there is certainty that the budget deficit will be larger than estimated. The 2013 Budget is politically staged and the shortcomings will be blamed on everyone except those that have actually put this together and the people of Papua New Guinea will actually miss out after believing they would be looked after. The 2013 Budget deficit will be worse than anticipated and if the 2013 Budget was for the people, we would already have the funding for the deficit with big announcements connected to objective achievements. The people of Papua New Guinea will realise what the Opposition already know, we will have a larger than expected deficit that will run well into 2014 and into 2015 as there is no realistic plan and no way will anyone that should take responsibility, will do so. Accusations will be made that it was the fault of the Opposition or factors outside the control of the State – but the O’Neil/Dion/Polye Government, in putting the biggest budget of K13 billion in 2013 owed a duty of care to the people. The assumptions of the 2013 budget is what has destroyed it along with the Treasury and what could have been achieved under the peoples budget cannot be achieved and is now confirmed as a political budget - Yes, the 2013 Budget is bones dressed up as lamb flaps! For prudential and transparent control, the actual expenditure against the budget needs to be published and the projects embarked on in the budget need to be independently audited to account to the people for the 2013 budget. Only then can we be comfortable that this Parliament is promoting economic development growth, supporting macroeconomic stability and addressing significant needs of our country, Papua New Guinea. Even though the 2013 Budget was just a worthless paper of justification, we the Opposition, look forward to the announcement of the 2014 Budget. We hope that it rectifies what we are facing in 2013 as the current budget is but a license to put Papua New Guinea into a declining growth rate and further into a deficit “black hole”; if this occurs, it will be very difficult to return from this predicted situation and back to what Papua New Guinea deserves, to complement a country rich in resources, culture and people…a Budget Surplus! Hon Sam Basil, MP, Deputy Opposition Leader & MP for Bulolo 9 | Page
Posted on: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 04:01:53 +0000
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