Peter O’Neill is taking PNG Global this year in its attempt to raise the first US$500million Euro Bond and the Nation is bracing itself for judgment from the international Financial Markets on whether the Country is Bankable.
The Market will make a judgment on O’Neill and his lead advisers in Secretary Vele and Secretary Lupari and whether the international Money Market has the confidence in this three Gentlemen to invest their money in PNG Inc. under their leadership. Important also is the leadership role of the Governor of the Central Bank to manage the fall out of either a successful or negative outcome of this Bond Offering.
This event is big for PNG as it comes almost 40 years after independence and if Peter O’Neill successfully pulls this one off he will change the many negative perceptions the country has of him at the moment and channel all these negative energies into something positive for the country. The smooth-talking Vele and Lupari will also for the first time be critically judged by the Financial Markets on their ability to Financially Manage PNG Inc.
Like many, I can't wait for the final verdict of the Market. PNG has been toying with an international Bond offering since 1994 and the lukewarm reception it has received from the money market on road shows in the ensuring recent past has resulted in a number of deferrals of the Bond offering. Hopefully, this one will be successful and will complement well PNG,s entry into the World Financial Trading System and will sit well as PNG Chairs APE 2018. Good Luck & God Speed PNG.