Appoint a treasurer, PM told

THE Prime Minister has been asked to divest himself of the Treasury ministry in a time of crisis and increasing socio-economic hardships.
Deputy Opposition Leader and Chuave MP James Nomane reiterated a call he made two weeks ago, saying since then the country has been hit with natural disasters, a payroll debacle affecting the PNGDF, and the IMF imposing fiscal discipline.
Nomane said in a statement yesterday: “We need a treasurer who can synchronise fiscal and monetary policy towards growth, regain our sovereignty through improved relationships with development partners like IMF, assess the impact of population dynamics on economic growth, and evaluate the effect of exogenous shocks on the PNG economy.
“The PNG economy is not a tucker box or Marape’s private business. He must appoint a treasurer in the interest of transparency and good governance. PNG needs someone who can manage the budget and payroll, whilst concurrently dealing with the plethora of socio-economic challenges that affect economic indices. This includes high unemployment, chronic FX shortages, rising crime, tribal conflict, youth bulge, debt repayments, high inflation, currency devaluation, low investor confidence, health crisis, erosion of education standards, and no foreign direct investment. These issues are serious and demand the undivided attention of a full-time Treasurer because of their collateral economic impact.”
Nomane said: “PNG needs a competent Treasurer to control expenditure and prioritise payments like payroll for the police, defence force, prison wardens, nurses, and teachers.“
Nomane went on to say that the power of effective delegation is the hallmark of a good leader, but this was “sadly lacking in this Prime Minister”.
He said: “Marape cannot boast about growing the economy. Where are the jobs? Where is the industry? What is he doing about the attrition rate of school leavers exceeding 115,000 students per annum? What is he doing about reducing the cost of rice to K2 per kilogram?”
He added: “If Marape claims a 5-year GDP growth of K30 billion; that’s because Marape has borrowed K30 billion as Prime Minister. There is no real growth from targeted investments. If there was, we would see tangible job creation. So where are the jobs? PNG per-capita income is not comparable to other Asia-Pacific countries. The national savings rate is below 2%, inflation is over 5%, and the debt-to-GDP ratio is at 60%. Marape has done nothing to measure the informal economy, which holds the bulk of our labor force, or take any steps to regulate it. He is obsessed with extractive industry projects and not agriculture. This is myopic and denotes total incompetence.”
Nomane stated that talk is cheap when the businesses in Port Moresby affected by Black Wednesday had not received any funding support since Jan 10, 2024. He further stated that there would be no FDI this year, and no sign of 100,000 new jobs in 2024.
He said: “The historic budgets have all gone to support exorbitant spending in Connect PNG through selective warranting at the expense of districts, provinces, sectors, and the people. Only a few select companies have received billions of kina in road projects.”