40pc of of country’s debts from international lenders, says Abel

FORTY per cent of all public debt is from international lenders, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel, pictured, says.
This was part of the total of K24.3 billion debt stock of the government as of the middle of this year
“Our total public debt is K24.3 billion — which is 29.8 per cent of GDP,” Abel said.
“It is within our requirement to stay between 30 and 35 per cent of debt to GDP.
“The public debt is not seventy or eighty billion as some people are saying.
“When we to try meet our budget expectations, we budget for a shortfall because we don’t have enough revenue to meet our expenditure.
“Every year in the last few years, we have a financing position to meet.”
Abel said an example of this was the 2018 budget where the deficit was set at K1.9 billion.
“That is the fiscal deficit,” he said. “We conduct financing activities. That is what we are raising.
“When we get to the end of the year, we are K1.9 bil further in debt and that adds to the debt stock.
“At the middle of this year, we are sitting at K24 billion and as we complete our financing exercise, the difference adds to the debt stock.”
Abel said shadow treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey was confusing himself with figures.
Meanwhile, he said good reforms in difficult economic times should be maintained when the economy gets better.
Abel said the government was expecting an investment boom in the next two years through resource projects Papua LNG, Wafi-Golpu and P’nyang.
“We are just on the edge of another investment boom,” Abel said. “We must not lose sight of the reforms we have done in the last couple of years.
“Treasury and government have come with reforms such as the medium-ierm revenue strategy.
“When large amounts of money come in, we must make sure we invest it into tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.”