High cost of living

EVERY time you walk into a supermarket somewhere in Papua New Guinea, you need to remember that we are living in one of the most expensive places in the world.
The cost of living is extremely high in a country where the majority are low income earners.
Is there a way to solve this serious economic problem affecting the people of PNG?
There are two major economic difficulties confronting PNG workers and public servants.
Firstly, a worker’s gross income is highly taxed by the government.
Secondly, Papua New Guinean families buy very expensive consumer goods such as rice and fuel, hence their after tax income is rapidly depleted.
A public servant has other traditional or Melanesian cultural obligations to meet apart from just maintaining a household.
As a result, so many public servants end up borrowing excessively from loan sharks to meet pressing financial needs.
The psychological and mental strain on the debt burdened worker affects their performance at the workplace.
A debt-ridden public servant is very likely to deliver one year’s work every two or three years.
A debt-ridden school teacher is very likely to run away from class when she (he) is physically and verbally abused and confronted by a money lender.
Excessive taxation on personal incomes combined with the present rising cost of living has driven Papua New Guinean workers to the brink of financial enslavement.
The current rate of income tax imposed by the government is quite inhumane given the fact that huge revenues from the oil and gas projects including other extractive sectors should be sufficient to keep the country’s economy functioning.
Money lending institutions which now operate in almost all the major centres across PNG prey on the worker’s financial insecurities.
Finance companies including the commercial banks charge exorbitant interest rates on loans which is quite unethical and inhumane.
We call on the government to enact appropriate legislations to regulate the activities of the so-called finance companies who are seamlessly exploiting the vulnerable and cash-strapped public servants.
The current Marape-Steven government should review existing taxation laws in order to significantly reduce income tax while at the same time addressing the serious issue of skyrocketing food prices.

Paul Waugla Wii
Wandi, Simbu