On September 28th, the Government of Timor-Leste, through the Ministry of Finance, presented the results of the 2014 study on poverty in Timor-Leste. This study was conducted with the World Bank’s support, which provided technical assistance to ensure international standards to the research results.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the living conditions of the Timorese people and the ways to pursue a policy and a programme that can improve them. This study provides information that allows a comparison of Timor-Leste’s development with other nations.
The Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, who was in charge of the report’s presentation also stated that, although according to that report there were great advances made, we must recognize that there are many things that still need to be improved.
The Vice Minister of Finance, Hélder Lopes, said this study follows international standards that make it credible and impartial, because it followed the appropriate method, i.e. academic. This research reveals that over the period from 2007 to 2014, the percentage of poverty decreased a lot and the other social indicators show significant progress at the national and municipal level.
The result of the research, using the national poverty line, showed that between 2007 and 2014 poverty in Timor-Leste come down from 50.4% to 41.8%; but if we use the international poverty line, Timor-Leste’s values decline from 47.2% to 30.3% in the same period.
Between 2007 and 2014, the poverty in Timor-Leste fell 2.8% per year. With this result, Hélder Lopes highlighted that our country belongs to the group of nations with significant poverty reduction.