TREASURER ON GOVERNMENT POLICY ON BORROWINGS AND LOANS

By Sandra ULG

Minister for Treasury Ian Ling Stucky has responded to questions raised by the Opposition Leader Douglas Toumeriesa on the government’s policy on borrowings and loans yesterday in Parliament.

The Opposition Leader said members of parliament have been raising concerns on the country’s borrowings that are somewhat unprecedentedly high and still more to come.

Mr. Toumeriesa asked the Treasurer what the government’s official policy is in terms of borrowings and loans.

In response the Treasurer said the government’s policy position on borrowings and loans since it took office five years ago is managing debt, the policy on debt and loans, is to continue with replacing expensive commercial loans.

Treasurer Ling Stucky said this was a feature of the previous government with interest rates as high as 8- 9 percent. Since the government has come in, they have replaced those loans by good concessional funding at about 2-3 percent.

He says the loans they get as a country are large, and so it is equally difficult to raise those funds. But the main point is that the government can demonstrate that they have a clear pathway to continue reducing debt.

He adds that they have reduced the debt by about 1perecnt. The government has reduced that at about 1perecnt a year or about K1 billion kina.