Call for govt to lower cost of living

THE Government needs to lower the cost of living for families rather than imposing price increases and more taxes, says Shadow Minister for Treasury and Finance Ian Ling-Stuckey.
He said in his 2019 Budget response in Parliament yesterday, that living in Port Moresby was more expensive than New York, but the Government was oblivious to this.
“The cost of living in PNG is too high,” Ling-Stuckey said. “According to international comparisons, Port Moresby is more expensive to live in than New York. These cost of living pressures extend down throughout our country, but the Government does not understand that families in PNG are really struggling.”
He said the budget would increase costs on families through raising tariffs for more than 900 items.
“The Government argued this wouldn’t affect people but the ‘Alternative Government’ was extremely concerned,” he said. “For example, they claimed that although they were imposing a 25 per cent tariff increase in the price of milk, that the price of milk would halve.
“So last year, a one-litre carton of Harvey Fresh UHT milk was K4.
“When you go down to your local supermarket, is it now K2 as promised by the Government? No. It is now K4.50. We told you so.”
He said another way was to lower tax rates for families.