Southeast Asia > East Timor > Economy

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Agriculture > products coffee, rice, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cabbage, mangoes, bananas, vanilla
Budget > Revenues	$107,700,000.00		[21st of 166]
Current account balance	$1,161,000,000.00		[50th of 181]
Debt > External	$0.00		[134th of 136]
Distribution of family income > Gini index	38		[12th of 43]
Economy > Overview In late 1999, about 70% of the economic infrastructure of Timor-Leste was laid waste by Indonesian troops and anti-independence militias. Three hundred thousand people fled westward. Over the next three years a massive international program, manned by 5,000 peacekeepers (8,000 at peak) and 1,300 police officers, led to substantial reconstruction in both urban and rural areas. By the end of 2005, refugees had returned or had settled in Indonesia. The country continues to face great challenges in rebuilding its infrastructure, strengthening the civil administration, and generating jobs for young people entering the work force. The development of oil and gas resources in offshore waters has begun to supplement government revenues ahead of schedule and above expectations - the result of high petroleum prices. The technology-intensive industry, however, has done little to create jobs for the unemployed because there are no production facilities in Timor. Gas is piped to Australia. In June 2005 the National Parliament unanimously approved the creation of a Petroleum Fund to serve as a repository for all petroleum revenues and preserve the value of Timor-Leste's petroleum wealth for future generations. The Fund held assets of US$1.8 billion as of September 2007. The mid-2006 outbreak of violence and civil unrest disrupted both private and public sector economic activity and created 100,000 internally displaced persons - about 10 percent of the population. While real non-oil GDP growth in 2006 was negative, the economy probably rebounded in 2007. The underlying economic policy challenge the country faces remains how best to use oil-and-gas wealth to lift the non-oil economy onto a higher growth path and reduce poverty. In late 2007, the new government announced plans aimed at increasing spending, reducing poverty, and improving the country's infrastructure, but it continues to face capacity constraints. In the short term, the government must also address continuing problems related to the crisis of 2006, especially the displaced Timorese.
Exchange rates the US dollar is the legal tender
Exports	$10,000,000.00		[167th of 189]
Exports to US	$100,000.00		[201st of 224]
GDP	$356,000,000.00		[162nd of 203]
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$2,608,000,000.00		[165th of 187]
GDP > Composition by sector > Industry	12.8%		[132nd of 146]
GDP > Real growth rate	19.8%		[3rd of 198]
GDP growth > annual %	2.5 annual %		[135th of 187]
Gross fixed capital formation > constant 2000 US$	107,748,000 constant 2000 US$		[114th of 145]
Human Development Index	0.513		[141st of 178]
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	7.8%		[60th of 192]
Population below poverty line	42%		[17th of 46]
Services, etc., value added > constant 2000 US$	179,300,000 constant 2000 US$		[146th of 164]
Trade balance with US	$700,000.00		[87th of 224]

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