Government of Timor-Leste

The Government, through the Ministry of Finance, organized, on June 30^th, 2021, the Budget Days, a seminar that marks the beginning of the preparation of the 2022 General State Budget (GSB), in Xanana Gusmão auditorium, in the Ministry of Finance, in Dili.

The seminar was chaired by the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, and had the theme “Budget quality, inclusive and sustainable growth”.

During the meeting, the members of the Government defined six priority areas for the General State Budget for 2022, in order to meet the major goal of achieving development with quality and sustainable and inclusive growth. The six priorities for 2022 are: 1) human capital development (education, professional training and health); 2) housing and social inclusion; 3) productive sectors (agriculture and tourism),  environment and connectivity; 4) private sector development; 5) rural development; and 6) Governance.

In order to fulfil the defined priorities and programmes, a budget ceiling of US$ 1,523.78 million was approved.

The Budget Days also featured presentations on directives and target achieved, on the impacts of COVID-19 and major structural problems, and on the contribution of the financial sector to economic development.

The Prime Minister, in his last speech, at the end of the event, thanked the general and national directors, heads of autonomous bodies and community leaders for their presence, and asked them to continue to contribute to the efforts to draft this budget, in accordance with the priorities defined for next year.

The Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes, in his speech, at the opening of the Budget Days, argued that “program-based budgeting allows us to guarantee that the money that is annually withdrawn from the Petroleum Fund, from the collection of taxes from taxpayers, and from loans from donors, is really used to benefit the people, to improve the quality of public service delivery  and to achieve the goals approved by the Government”.

The Spokesperson for the 8th Constitutional Government, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, stressed that “the Budget Days are an important opportunity for the Government to define national priorities, in a coordinated and adequate manner, for the planning and implementation of development programs, in order to define a fiscal envelope for 2022, that may respond to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, and could promote the recovery of our economy and social well-being”.