Statement by the Spokesperson of the IV Constitutional Government on October 9, 2009
Statement By The Spokesperson of the IV Constitutional Government,
The Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers
Díli- October 7, 2009
UN Development Rankings a Symptom of the Past
Once again Timor-Leste was reminded of the symptomatic maladministration by the former Government when the United Nations, evaluating data from 2007, ranked Timor-Leste number 162 on the Human Development Index, a fall of 12 countries. It will take another two years to see the effects of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao Government initiatives which focused on better social and fiscal policies to improve the quality of life for the Timorese.
The UN Human Development Index used similar data from 2007 that was in line with the 2007 Timor-Leste Poverty report which showed poverty in the nation had increased some 25%, to an all time high of 50% when Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao Government came to office, in August 2007
Spending on social initiatives has been a priority for the IV Constitutional Government which will be consistent in the 2010 budget due to be debated later this month.
Government spending has tripled on public services. Pensions for the elderly, disabled, infirmed and veterans and the return of some 150,000 internal refugees from the crisis of 2006 has eased pressure on the most vulnerable. Government spending has improved the health of Timorese, decreased malnutrition by more than half and seen a decrease by one- third in infant mortality.
Cash for Work schemes and Direct and indirect wage generation has provided full and part time employment to some 95,000 Timorese in 2008 and 2009. Investment into agriculture has seen the rice yield, a main food staple for the Timorese, increase by more than one-third and fisheries schemes increase in production by 107,000 kg per year, improving efforts for food security.
In 2008, the nation reached a 12.8% economic growth, being the second fastest growing economy behind Qatar and recently was cited by the World Bank’s Doing Business Report as increasing nine countries in the overall business ranking and increasing by 56 countries in tax, making Timor-Leste’s tax reform best amongst all nations and putting Timor-Leste in the top twenty at #19. All signs of growth which will benefit the nation and the people of Timor-Leste.
Agio Pereira, the Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers and Official Spokesperson for the IV Constitutional Government, noted “many of the international reports are evaluated on data from before our time in Government; however, they are all significant indicators in where our country has been and where our county is going. On this particular index, we look forward to increased indicators reflective of what Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao Government has achieved.”
