MP: Learn from Bible to manage

GOROKA MP Bire Kimisopa has likened Papua New Guinea to the Bible story in the Old Testament of “seven years of plenty and seven years of famine” in Egypt.
He was contributing as the Shadow Finance Minister during the debate on the supplementary budget tabled by Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch in Parliament last Thursday.
“This side of the house has provided an alternative view in terms of where the fiscal landscape is,” Kimisopa said.
“In a nutshell, we were advocating a cessation of borrowings so that we can bring the budget back to order.
“In actual fact, we were proposing that we get out of the usual trend of borrowing in the domestic market, and advocate for concessional loans from overseas so that we can bring the budget into order.”
Kimisopa said he was taking his cue from the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook report.
“It would appear to me, for a country of our size and our history, that if there is any lesson we could learn, perhaps we could look at the good book (Bible),” he said.
“Very appropriate lesson in the story of Joseph, the prince of Egypt. He had seven years of plentiful and seven years of famine. Seven years of plentiful, essentially, was saving – developing a savings culture so that when the famine came, he was able to feed the population and also be able to trade.
“That is an example we could learn from. If we go on a path of debt and deficit, trying to fund the budget deficit by continuous borrowing, we will short-change ourselves in the medium-term and also the long-term.”