Marape finds relief in Moody’s analysis

PAPUA New Guinea’s Finance Minister James Marape has highlighted some positive comments about PNG’s economy by a senior analyst in the Sovereign Risk Group for Moody’s in Singapore.
Marape said the report was candid in highlighting current concerns, but concluded that the medium-to-longer-term outlook for the economy was strong.
“Moody’s are always thorough in their analysis and have noted the pressures we face but also highlighted the positive overall outlook for the economy,” Marape said.
“It is no secret that we are in a tough international economic environment at the moment, and we are not alone.
“At the African, Caribbean and Pacific summit this week. I spoke with many foreign leaders who were experiencing extremely tough conditions because of global economic pressures.
“These were mainly commodity-producing countries that are facing massive budget deficits, the failure of government service delivery and a blow-out in their national debts.
“In Papua New Guinea, we are not experiencing these problems because we are managing the impact of the current global economic conditions. “We have made our public service more efficient and we are managing expenditure.
“There might be a lot of critics who sit in an armchair or have political agendas, and it is time to stop listening to them and just read the facts.
“Take a look around the global economy and the critics can see for themselves how well Papua New Guinea is doing in the current global economic climate.”