A view of the government benches in Papua New Guinea's parliament. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
A newly-released report says PNG can save over $235 million US dollars by culling government jobs.
The Asian Development Bank's Pacific Economic Monitor has suggested funds can be saved by what it calls weeding out nonperforming workers and spurious posts in the public service.
The report's co-author, senior economist Christopher Edmonds, says the downturn of global commodity prices has hit PNG at an unfortunate time as El Niño wreaks havoc on its islands.
He says there are some spending essentials that must be prioritised.
"You can't cut off emergency food aid to the highlands where the subsistence farmers are losing their crops. You can't cut off education. You can't ask the kids to come back in six months because you'll interrupt the whole stream of education. when you're in the middle of building a bridge you don't want to let the concrete dry and mess up that. It's the ability to prioritise."
Christopher Edmonds says PNG could also look at taking up ADB loan offers instead of opting for expensive commercial loans and bank fees.
