An Australian economist who specialises in Papua New Guinea is supporting oppostion calls for the government to borrow internationally to alleviate its cash flow problem.
The leader of the opposition Don Polye said PNG should seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund following revenue shortfalls caused by the global collapse of oil and mineral prices.
Public servants in PNG have complained this month about not being paid wages and funds for basic services in the provinces appear to have dried up.
Economist Paul Flanagan said the IMF was a good source of cheap finance.
"The opposition is talking about maybe going to the IMF. The IMF is actually reasonably cheap finance to assist with these types of transitions.
"It's certainly what PNG did in the mid-nineties and also late-nineties to deal with similar economic challenges that they faced then.
"So that's probably a good initiative to go and look for some of these cheap sources of finance and advice," he said.
