Government of Timor-Leste

The Council of Ministers approved, at an extraordinary meeting on July 18^th, 2022, an aggregate ceiling for the Central State Administration budget, for the 2023 General State Budget (GSB 2023), totalling US$ 1.8 billion. This figure represents a reduction of 18%, or US$ 390 million, compared to the 2022 GSB.      

The US$ 1.8 billion aggregate ceiling does not include the US$ 1 billion National Liberation Fighters' Fund (FCLN – Portuguese acronym), the US$ 235.7 million Social Security budget, and the US$ 120 million RAEOA budget.

Thus, the total expenditure of the 2023 GSB is US$ 3.15 billion. This amount includes the Central Administration, the FCLN, Social Security and the RAEOA budgets as well as the amount of Global Expenditure provided for in the Law on the Major Planning Options for 2023, enacted last month by the President of the Republic, Dr José Ramos-Horta.

This budget will be used to fund 45 programmes, through 275 main measures or activities, organised into 16 strategic areas, which will be the focus of the Government's activity next year: Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry; Economy and Employment; Tourism; Rural Development and Housing; Environment; Petroleum and Minerals; Electricity and Renewable Energies; National Connectivity; Water and Sanitation; Education and Training; Health; Social Inclusion and Protection; Culture and Heritage; State Reform; Defence and National Security; International Relations and Foreign Policy.

Social Capital Sector with 33% allocation

The distribution of the aggregate Central Government Budget ceiling in the 2023 General State Budget is based on the important sectors of the National Strategic Development Plan: the Institutional Framework Sector receives a 38% allocation, followed by the Social Capital Sector with 33%, Infrastructure Development with 22% and Economic Development with 7%.

Following this approval, the Ministry of Finance also released a memo with the rules for drafting the 2023 General State Budget and circulated the approved fiscal envelopes to the 109 State entities that are part of the budgetary perimeter in 2023.

The 2023 GSB schedule is in line with the spirit of the Budgetary Framework Law

Next, the Council of Ministers will approve the Budget allocation by Programs and the Draft Law Proposal (PPL – Portuguese acronym) of the 2023 General State Budget, a process that will be concluded with the submission of the 2023 General State Budget PPL to the National Parliament, in October, for approval, before it is sent to the President of the Republic for analysis, at the end of the year.

This schedule is in line with the spirit of the new Budgetary Framework Law, which was enacted by the outgoing President of the Republic, Dr Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, last February. This structural law is one of the bases for the Public Finance Management Reform in the country - an important achievement of the 8th Constitutional Government's mandate, led by Prime Minister, General Taur Matan Ruak.