Barter: Give us facts

 By Gedion Timothy Lapan 

THE business community and the people of Papua New Guinean have the right to know what is happening in the economy, businessman Sir Peter Barter says.

Sir Peter, a former Madang Governor was asked by The National to comment on the current status of the economy. “We all have a right to know exactly what is going on,” he said.  

“It appears to me that disbursement of grants has little to do with the appropriation bill. 

“In the event the receipts are reduced because of factors related to the falling prices of commodities, appropriate action should be taken to prevent deficits reaching proportions that will make it difficult for future generations to repay.”

The Government recently announced it was cutting back on costs by K4 billion while increasing revenue by K1.1b. 

This will be announced in the Supplementary Budget at the end of the month. 

“There have been signs of a fall in receipts (revenue) for the past two years,” he said. 

Yet every day we see additional money being allocated, albeit mainly in Port Moresby where less than 10 per cent of the population lives.”