A leading New Caledonian politician, Pierre Frogier, says after years of an economic boom the territory is ill-prepared to respond to the financial crisis.
Mr Frogier gave the assessment as his Rassemblement-UMP Party is readying itself for next year's general election.
According to the newspaper, Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes, Mr Frogier says since 2004 the ruling majority wasted the income from the nickel resource without concern about the future.
He says the figures for this year are worse than for last year and appear to be bad in the next two years, warning that New Caledonia won't be spared the global economic crisis, the oil price shock, high food prices and a drop in the price of nickel.
