Shadow Minister for Treasury & Finance

“At the recent PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment conference in Sydney, there were claims that mining was the backbone of the PNG economy. However, I must disagree with the way we present our economy to the outside world, including international investors.

“For there is no doubt that the real economic backbone of our country is our agriculture sector,” stressed Ling-Stuckey.

“In the year APEC 2018, whilst schools were running low on resources, the government kept saying it was taking control of the situations, and yet, schools continued to face problems,” said Dr James Naipao in a statement.

“When polio that was declared free suddenly emerges with 25 confirmed cases, tuberculosis drug resistance disease hitting the country, and health facilities facing shortage of drugs and consumable, and yet, the Health Department and the Health Minister come out in the media to cushion the real situation on the ground by saying everything is okay.

Shadow Minister for Treasury & Finance, Ian Ling-Stuckey, said there are three very good aspects of this plan.

“First, the plan goes back to a more inclusive approach to growth. The failings of a resource-focused approach to development is finally recognised,” said the Shadow Minister, who is also Kavieng MP.

“The resource sector has thrived in this country since Independence while its people have generally suffered from a lack of attention – this is not suggesting it is the fault of the sector.

Ian Ling-Stuckey wishes to present a unified front to the countries attending APEC however, for this to happen, he has asked for three pieces of verified information to increase the people’s confidence in some recent economic claims.

“First, going to the heart of budget honesty, can you release a statement of how much has been received as of 30 September 2018 from the National Fisheries Agency?” Ling-Stuckey said.

“Economic academics from both the University of Papua New Guinea and the Australian National University say that the PNG economy had negative growth of 5.9 percent in 2015 in the non-resource sections of the economy,” Ling-Stuckey said in a statement.

“This is an extraordinary result confirming the economy went badly backwards. It would confirm what business people and the people of PNG have known for years – 2015 was a year of severe recession in PNG.

Shadow Minister for Treasury & Finance, Ian Ling-Stuckey, says this is only the fourth time in the last two decades that PNG has been put on this negative watch, meaning there is an increased chance of a credit ratings downgrade.

“PNG’s credit rating at B2 was already five grades down from investor ‘prime’ status,” stated the shadow minister in a statement.

In a statement, Ian Ling-Stuckey said: “If you have a large number of suppliers with outstanding bills, and you have a viable means of financing, you should pay the bills. Saying no to the K570 million extra available over the last two weeks, especially in the context of the increased funding needs for our earthquake victims, is both incompetent and seems heartless.