Dili, October 8^th, 2020 – This Thursday, the National Parliament, after three days of detailed discussion, concluded the debate on the 2020 General State Budget, with the final global vote, whose result was 43 votes in favour, 21 votes against, and 1 abstention.

After finishing, His Excellency the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, expressed his satisfaction, because finally the 2020 GSB was approved, and, taking this opportunity, on behalf of the VIII Constitutional Government thanked the President of the National Parliament and the Government for approving the 2020 GSB.

“I am very happy because finally the 2020 State Budget was approved, in the final global vote in the National Parliament. For this reason, on behalf of the 8^th Constitutional Government, I would like to thank the President of the National Parliament, the Board of the National Parliament, the distinguished deputies, and, in particular, the parliamentary benches that support the Government”, declared the Chief of the Executive to journalists, after the final vote ended.

On this occasion, the Head of Government also thanked the positive contributions of the opposition benches during the debate of the 2020 GSB, from the overall debate to the detailed discussion. The Government noted the positive concerns that can help members of the Government to improve their commitment to governance, to serve citizens.

On behalf of the 8^th Government, I would also like to leave a special greeting to the opposition parties, who had a good contribution during this debate. We have noted all of your concerns. We hope that, gradually, we can improve, enabling the Government to provide better services to our citizens”, PM added.

With the approval of the 2020 GSB, the 8^th Constitutional Government finally has a State Budget, after 10 months of budget execution in the duodecimal regime, from January to October. This situation was caused by the main government bench at the time (CNRT), which rejected the 2020 GSB in the National Parliament, in January 2020. This led to a new arrangement in the National Parliament, with the departure of the CNRT and the entry of Fretilin in the coalition, in an attempt to make this Government viable until the end of the mandate.

The total amount of the 2020 GSB is $ 1,497,100.00 (one billion, four hundred and ninety-seven million, and one hundred thousand US dollars), and includes:

• $671,292 million, corresponding to the total amount executed between January and September 30^th, 2020;
• $117,100 million, corresponding to the temporary budget allocation foreseen for the month of October, under the duodecimal regime; and
• $708,708 million, to be executed between November and December 2020.

End/M-PMO