In light of recent accusations made by the Member of Chuave James Nomane regarding the Marape- Rosso Government’s fiscal record, the prime minister has come out to dismiss them as misleading, describing them as politically driven accusations.

Prime Minister James Marape said the Government remains firmly committed to responsible fiscal management, economic diversification, debt stabilization, and strengthening of provincial and district funding systems, despite the unprecedented global shocks that have affected economies worldwide since 2019.

Prime Minister Marape said it is irresponsible and misleading to ignore the global realities that shaped every country’s fiscal position.

“Between 2019 and 2025 the world endured COVID-19, international inflation, supply-chain disruptions, higher fuel prices, geopolitical conflicts, and collapsing commodity markets.

Every major economy — Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US — increased borrowing to protect services and livelihoods. PNG was no different.”

He said the Government ensured the protection of essential services during this period, keeping schools open, hospitals functioning, law-and-order operations running, SME support programmes active, and ensuring no public servant went unpaid.

Prime Minister Marape said commentary on debt must be matched with acknowledgment of PNG’s unprecedented GDP expansion.

“Over the last six years, we have grown the economy faster than at any other time in our history — adding K50 billion to GDP. No government before us has achieved this level of expansion.

“In 2019, we set a target to grow our economy beyond K200 billion, and we have now added K50 billion on top of the K79 billion economy we inherited from O’Neill in 2018.”

“Our deficit peaked at 8.9% in 2020 due to COVID-19. Since then, deficits have declined every year — now under 3%, next year under 2%, and we remain firmly on track for a

balanced budget by 2027.”

He said the Government has restructured debt, secured long-term concessional financing, improved revenue compliance and strengthened the overall fiscal position.