Lao Hamatuk Part 2 - Dire economic straits for Timor Leste after 2012 Elections

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Part two of three


Charles Scheiner and Juvenal are researchers for the Lao Hamutuk
("Walking Together) NGO in Timor Leste. For many years Lao
Hamatuk has been monitoring the governance of Timor
Leste. Among other things, they look at how TL spends its
oil revenues, which come from exporting the nonrenewable oil and
gas reserves under the Timor Sea. Returns on investing the
Petroleum Fund are only about one-tenth of the royalties and
revenues paid by oil companies. As the oil and gas reserves are
depleted, and oil revenues fall, investment returns will not be
nearly enough to sustaining TL's state spending. For more
details,
seehttp://laohamutuk.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-timor-leste-got-ten-billion-dollars.html .


At the time of the 2012 general elections they are particularly
critical of the government of the past five years, and concerned
that the incoming government review its spending priorities.


The Lao Hamatuk website can be found
at http://www.laohamutuk.org/