Disagreeing whilst all being incorrect In tabular form below is a summary of statements made by Government, Opposition and bureaucratic officials about the 2017 National Budget and the veracity of those statements. Most troublesome and regrettable is that all these reported statements are incorrect in varying degrees. Exhibit A Legal versus accounting requirements Our Constitution…
Is there a breach of the 30% debt-to-GDP limit set by law?
Minister for Treasury Patrick Pruaitch in his 2017 National Budget speech said that there was an overarching theme of “Responsible Fiscal Consolidation” (page 4) and that the O’Neill-Dion Government was moving decisively to “move the Government Debt to GDP ratio onto a sustainable path” (page 5). It is reported that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is…
Walk With Me, On My Journey
My post on the failure to appropriate 2016 debt repayments attracted a lot of attention and I thought it useful to set out clearly what my objectives are and my approach. In a previous professional life, I was seconded from PNG Customs Services to the Department of Treasury to work with the Tax Review Committee…
Unlawful spending of K9.9 billion in 2016 by National Government
The Treasurer in his 2017 Budget speech stated that there was a “K1.1 billion reduction in expenditure in 2017” compared to the revised 2016 level. I decided to look at the Appropriation Bills for General Government Expenditure for 2016 and 2017 to confirm this and I was shocked to discover that the actual increase in…
The True 2016 Supplementary Budget Deficit
(This is a re-post of my Facebook post on Tuesday, 01 November 2016). When Papua New Guinea’s 2017 National Budget gets handed down it is likely that the 2016 National Budget will also be revised further from the 2016 Supplementary Budget. The focus will be on the money plan for 2017 but often what gets…