Ling-Stuckey slams govt’s sovereign bonds roadshow

SHADOW Minister for Treasury and Finance Ian Ling-Stuckey has criticised the Government’s recent roadshow overseas to market PNG’s inaugural sovereign bonds as the wrong path to fix the foreign exchange crisis.
Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel and his team returned last week after visiting 100 banks and fund managers in Singapore, Hong Kong, London, New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
Ling-Stuckey said in a statement a sovereign bond was “just a fancy word for debt, more national government debt”.
“A massive risk for Abel’s proposed sovereign bond is a large devaluation being forced on PNG because of world events,” he said.
“Global uncertainties have been highlighted by the recent crises facing Argentina and Turkey. There are growing concerns about the health of the global system 10 years after the global financial crisis. If there was another global crisis, it is likely that once again we would see a collapse in commodity prices.
“For countries with most of their exports dependent on commodities, such as Papua New Guinea, there will be massive pressure to devalue. In addition, most economic experts consider that our currency is also not at the right price.”