Department of Treasury

Secretary Vele said Section 23A subsections (5) and (6) of the Prime Minister and National Executive Council Act 2002 makes it a serious disciplinary offence under the Public Services (Management) Act 1995 and the Public Service General Orders.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology has also been notified of the breach and will commence its own processes with social media providers to identify the source of the post.

This is a risk mitigation measure to limit any potential transmission of COVID-19. 

The Treasury Secretary, Dairi Vele, stated: “It was a decision made to protect the health and safety of Treasury officers in the workplace and to ensure any vulnerable officers or those with at-risk members of family are protected. 

“We were notified that a Treasury officer had received a positive COVID-19 test result. This officer had not recently been in the workplace, however, community transmission is high within the city and our staff should feel safe in their work environment.”

Speaking at the Blockchain Pasifik Conference today, the Treasury Department Secretary says the blockchain technology has the potential to become an important driver in PNG.

Blockchain technology is the backbone of a new type of internet where digital information can be distributed but not copied.

Blockchain was originally devised for the digital currency, Bitcoin, but other potential uses are now being found for this technology.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 16^th May at the Grand Papua Hotel.

Competition and consumer protection are cross-cutting issues affecting the provision of public services, trade and investment, land, market behaviour and enforcement. 

And to ensure that the proposed National Competition Policy reflects the needs of the business community, Treasury is interested to hear the views of private sector bodies in Papua New Guinea.

The meeting is part of consultations to develop a National Competition Policy for PNG.

Competition and Consumer Protection are cross-cutting issues affecting the provision of public services, trade and investment, land, market behaviour and enforcement. 

And to ensure that the proposed National Competition Policy reflects the needs of the business community, Treasury is interested to hear the views of private sector bodies in Papua New Guinea.

According to the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook Report (MYEFO) released by Treasury on Monday, the public debt is expected to increase to K26 billion (K25,939.4 million) from the projected 2017 Budget estimate of K22 billion (K21,623.3 million).

This is an increase of K4.3 billion (K4,316.1 million).

Treasury attributes the potential increase to the growth in debt levels due to rolling over of Government Treasury Bills and marginal increase in Treasury Bills financing in 2017.

Preliminary work has already been carried out with further options and strategies being explored on how best this reform can be achieved.

The merging of Government agencies with duplicate functions has made little progress since the first four mergers were agreed to in the 2013 National Budget. In 2014 a further three mergers were agreed too.

The requirement is part of the Government’s Non-Financial Instructions (NFI’s) which intend to improve the performance of all agencies that receive government funding.

Government says it has noted with concern the high levels of agency non-compliance of some of the NFI’s issued in the 2016 Budget.

An implementation update is now required as part of the Quarterly Budget Review process conducted under the Public Finance (Management) Act 1995.

The 2017 Budget NFI’s include:

Education Minister Nick Kuman announced this in a statement last Friday, saying: “This latest payment brings the total TFF release to K301 million. I am thankful to the government for its commitment by giving priority to this key policy to ensure that every child receives quality education.”

The Department of Education is now working on the payments to be deposited in the commercial banks. Schools will have access to their money by this week, the MP states.