By Delly Waigeno – EM TV News, Port Moresby
Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, held a media conference today to deal with a range of key issues facing the country such as the economy.
Mr O’Neill said that like many countries around the world, Papua New Guinea is going through tough times because of the continued drop in global oil prices.
However, he said the Government was keeping an eye on the global situation and managing the country’s tight cash position on a daily basis.
Prime Minister O’Neill told the media, gathered today, about the lifting of oil and financial sanctions on Iran, the Middle Eastern country whose oil reserves rank the 5th largest in the world.
He said Papua New Guinea’s national budget was drawn up based on the big picture; taking into account both the high and low extremes of commodity prices.
The Prime Minister added that the PNG government will continue to monitor the situation and a review of the National budget will only be considered if there is a requirement.
He urged critics to only engage in constructive debates about the country’s economy.
He was confident that oil prices would not remain low for good, and that the outlook for PNG was positive with investors like Exxon Mobil wanting to expand their projects.
