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The national impact of
Benefits for Former Combatants
By La’o HamutukTimor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis
For Belun seminar5 March 2013
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The state’s money?• Money to pay for all state programs,
including benefits for veterans, comes 95% from oil and gas wealth under the Timor Sea.
• Timor-Leste’s total petroleum resources are worth about $26 billion to the nation.
• When we spend our resources on one thing, we cannot use them for something else.
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Allocation of the 2013 State Budget
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Spending on Veterans and the Future
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012$0
$20
$40
$60
$80
$100
$120Executed expenditures in a few sectors
Veterans' pensionsMinistry of EducationMinistry of Health
Mill
ions
of d
olla
rs p
er y
ear
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Spending for veterans per month
(million U.S. dollars)
Jan-08
Mar-08
May-08Jul-0
8
Sep-08
Nov-08Jan-09
Mar-09
May-09Jul-0
9
Sep-09
Nov-09Jan-10
Mar-10
May-10Jul-1
0
Sep-10
Nov-10Jan-11
Mar-11
May-11Jul-1
1
Sep-11
Nov-11Jan-12
Mar-12
May-12Jul-1
2
Sep-12
Nov-12$0
$5,000,000
$10,000,000
$15,000,000
$20,000,000
$25,000,000
$30,000,000
$35,000,000
$40,000,000
$45,000,000
$50,000,000
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Spending on veterans’ programs during 2008-2012
Ceremonies, museum, etc.
$14m
Emergency Projects$24m
Pensions and scholarships
$199m
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Payments to Veterans
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Emergency projects to veterans
2010 2011 2012 (part.) Total
Number of projects 54 53 16 123
Total contract value $30.5m $30.1m $17.4m $78.0m
Average value of each project $0.56m $0.57m $1.09m $0.63m
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Veterans’ pensions: how much in future decades?
The 2013 state budget allocates $92.5 million for benefits for veterans of the liberation struggle during 2013 and projects this to increase by exactly 4.00% each year in the future, which ignores inflation and the passage of generations.
This year’s budget rectification included a huge increase in veteran’s benefits, and we are dubious that they will be reduced from now on. This is a large part of the budget, and Parliament deserves better information about how much it will cost the state over the next decades.
La’o Hamutuk’s submission to Parliament on the 2013 Budget
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Total cost in the future?
According to an internal government report:
• Payments to veterans will continue until 2122.
• The estimated total cost is $2.8 billion, which could double if new veterans continue to register or the minimum wage goes up.
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Reference case: $2.8 billion
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Higher case: $7 billion
Total petroleum wealth: $26 billion
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For more information
Visit www.laohamutuk.org or
http://laohamutuk.blogspot.com/
Thank you.