Papua New Guinea's opposition leader has warned the country to brace for tougher economic times ahead as the government releases more foreign exchange reserves.
The leader of Papua New Guinea's Triumph Heritage and Empowerment party, Don Polye. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
The newspaper The National reports Don Polye saying it was inevitable that more foreign exchange reserves would be released and the effects would be very damaging.
This comes as PNG faces petrol shortages after its main supplier Puma Energy started winding down its supply as it experiences foreign exchange problems in buying overseas fuel products.
Mr Polye says the government needs to release some 350 million US dollars from PNG's current US$2 billion foreign reserves into liquidity.
He says when that happens, there will be a big shock to the economy, with inflation set to soar.
Sacked as treasurer by prime minister Peter O'Neill last year, Mr Polye has linked the fuel crisis with what he calls the government's ill-advised practice of fixing the rate of the kina.
