Forward tax pay helps PNG budget
01 March 2020
MARTYN NAMORONG
PORT MORESBY - Friday marked six months since Ian Ling-Stuckey came into office as Papua New Guinea’s Treasurer.
Ling-Stuckey has delivered an economic rescue plan for PNG which will be monitored by an independent umpire, the International Monetary Fund.
IMF and its staff will be making sure the PNG government keeps its promises to rescue Papua New Guineans from O'Neill's deep economic hole.
The next step for the Treasurer is to raise revenue so the Marape-Stevens government can pay for the goods and services that need to be delivered to ordinary Papua New Guineans.
Ling-Stuckey, who was a successful businessman before becoming a politician, maintains cordial relations with many companies that provide jobs and economic opportunities for Papua New Guineans.
The Treasurer has asked the business community to forward pay their taxes now so the government can issue warrants and goods and services can flow to the people.
This is great news for Papua New Guineans.
Anyone in the public service knows the struggle of waiting for payments that almost always end up coming late in the year and nothing much gets done.
Well, the Treasurer and his team have thought about this problem and are addressing it by asking taxpayers in the corporate sector to forward pay their taxes. This means money is made available at the beginning of the year to maintain the flow of goods and services.
Yesterday evening Barrick Niugini Limited forward paid K59.3 million in taxes to support the government and people.
Many other businesses interested in supporting the development and progress of Papua New Guinea are lining up to support this new initiative.
And that's Paul Flanagan standing next to Ling-Stuckey.
Readers will remember Paul as the arch enemy of O'Neill economics and a regular contributor to PNG Attitude on economic matters.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 01 March 2020 at 08:45 AM