Govt owes K121mil to SOEs, says minister

STATE Enterprises Minister Sasindran Muthuvel says the Government owed more than K121 million to State-owned enterprises up to March this year.
He said he and Treasurer Sam Basil would travel to Australia next week to seek financial assistance to bail out struggling entities.
“The National Government owes Telikom, PNG Power. It owes Water PNG. So it’s hard to pay dividends when one of your own customers doesn’t pay the bills. So this is a big challenge,” he said.
Muthuvel said this when donating a school bus to Hoskins Secondary School last Friday.
He said the Government and the public were very helpful in assisting the people affected by the Mt Ulawun volcanic eruptions.
“The Government took over at a time the country was facing multiple economic challenges, it was at a time when we did not have enough funds so we could address all the issues,” he said.
“Right now, the fiscal deficit is very high, within six months we are at negative K1.7 billion.
“It’s a big burden on how we will find the money.
“So there is a huge pressure on State enterprises because they (Government) want state enterprises to pay dividends of K80 million as expected for this year.”