Papua New Guinea has “nothing to show after K156 billion in seven years,” as citizens continue to face rising hardship across the country, according to PNG Parliamentary Opposition Leader James Nomane.
“Papua New Guinea is suffering. Not quietly. Not patiently. Loudly — in hospital queues, at fuel pumps, on the streets of every province across this nation,” Nomane said, adding that “the government pretends like the people’s pain is someone else’s problem,” said Mr. Nomane in a statement.
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Mr. Nomane pointed to cumulative government spending since 2019, which he said totaled K156 billion across successive national budgets. “Where is this K156 billion?!” he questioned, further claiming that “the Prime Minister himself confirmed K56 billion was unaccounted.”
He argued that the Government’s fiscal approach has significantly increased the country’s debt burden. “To finance its reckless spending, this government has driven national debt to K66.2 billion,” he said.
“That debt has nearly doubled from K33.7 billion when this government took power in 2019, demonstrating an insatiable appetite for debt at the expense of the people.”
Mr. Nomane warned that debt servicing costs are now placing immense strain on the national budget. “Debt interest payments alone consumed K3.5 billion in 2025 — that is over K290 million per month,” he said.
“Every kina paid to creditors is a kina stolen from health, education, and law and order.”
Highlighting the state of the health sector, Mr. Nomane described scenes at Fairfax Harbour in Port Moresby as evidence of systemic failure.
“We can see a sad picture of mothers carrying infants, the elderly, and the chronically ill queuing up in droves to receive healthcare from a Chinese medical ship,” he said. “After K156 billion and still no world-class hospital.”
On the ongoing fuel crisis, Nomane called for immediate tax relief measures. “We demand that the government remove the tax on fuel imports now,” he said. “Why tout K1.0 billion of unbudgeted funds needing Parliamentary approval, when it is so much easier to remove import tariffs, taxes, and mark-ups to ease inflation?”
Nomane also criticized the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that “this government failed us catastrophically during COVID-19 by mismanaging emergency funds while our health system collapsed.” He added that continued borrowing and currency devaluation have worsened inflationary pressures.
“After seven years, we are still import dependent, we have no domestic resilience in agriculture, and we have not increased export yield to create a million jobs for our growing youth demographic,” he said.
Summing up his critique, Mr. Nomane said the country is moving in the wrong direction despite significant public expenditure.
“One hundred and fifty-six billion kina spent since 2019. National debt has doubled, and Papua New Guinea is going backwards,” he said.
“Our people are still worse off, looking for solutions on foreign ships docked on our shores. This is a crying shame.”
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“If the government lacks the competence to govern, then it should simply step aside,” Mr. Nomane added.