Opposition warns against more borrowing

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, August 16, 2015 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG) 

THE Opposition has called on the government to be mindful when considering more loans to the current debt levels the country has.

Leader of the Opposition, Don Polye, sounded the warning while referring to recent media statements made by the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in regards to the size of the economy and the country’s ability to take on more loans.

“The PM must tell the truth about debt levels, because if you look at the world today like in Greece and Spain who are going through a lot of economic challenges because they have incurred a lot of debt,” Mr Polye said.

“I heard the PM saying in a recent statement that as the size of our economy gets bigger we can borrow- in other words what he is saying is that he does not care about the borrowing that has already occurred giving the impression that he is going to borrow even more so I am not surprised if that occurs.”

“That is a very irresponsible statement because you already have a debt level that is already up that is unsustainable and unmanageable.”

“I would like to warn the government, caution the authorities and the people of this country that it will not be in the best interest of Papua New Guinea because it will affect PNG’s economy. We are already feeling the effects.”