Invest abroad

The National reported on page 35 yesterday that Nasfund wants to invest in State-owned enterprises (SOEs) that provide public utilities such as electricity, water and telecommunications in PNG.
The dubious rationale behind this is that the superfunds are cash rich.
How dare you try to squander our hard-earned retirement savings on bailing out failed SOEs!
PNG Power and Water PNG are owed millions of kina in unpaid bills incurred by State agencies such as Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, Papua New Guinea Defence Force and others that may never be fully recovered in the ordinary course of business.
Instead of squandering our retirement funds on near-bankrupt SOEs, Nasfund should research and think of investing in foreign hedge funds, treasury bills and other foreign backed government securities such as in Australia, Canada, USA or Britain which have strong financial securities law enforcement mechanisms which guarantee safe return on investments. And the bonus is that return on off-shore investments could translate into foreign exchange earnings at a time when PNG needs more foreign exchange inflows.

Annoyed in Lae