Observasaun husi La’o Hamutuk kona-ba proposta Orsamentu Estadu ba 2022

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Nudár obrigasaun konstitusional, kada tinan Governu submete ba Parlamentu Nasional Orsamentu Jerál Estadu (OJE) atu diskute, halo mudansa no aprova. Loron 15 Outubru Governu aprezenta Proposta OJE tinan 2022 ba Parlamentu, agora daudaun Parlamentu iha hela audiénsia hodi rona perspetiva oin-oin husi instituisaun ka konvida organizasaun sira. La’o Hamutuk hetan konvite husi Komisaun C no oferese testemuña no submisaun iha loron 15 Novembru atu ajuda informasaun antes tama iha faze debate iha plenária. 

Ita bele hetan informasaun tan kona-ba prosesu no konteúdu OJE iha ne'e. Tuir mai, rezumu no informasaun husi submisaun ne’ebé La’o Hamutuk hakerek ba Parlamentu: 

Membru Parlamentu no públiku presiza informasaun loloos no kompletu antes foti desizaun, desizaun sira ne’ebé mai husi baze faktu no evidénsia forte mak sei hamenus posibilidade ba sala no deside futuru Timor-Leste iha diresaun ne’ebé loos. Nudár ezemplu forte mak presiza informasaun kompletu husi Ministériu Finansas no TimorGAP kona-ba revalorizasaun investimentu husi Fundu Petrolíferu iha Greater Sunrise husi tokon $700 ba zero. 

Projesaun ba futuru presiza halo ho sériu, kona-ba despeza rekorrente, despeza husi Fundu Infrastrutura no reseita petróleu. La’o Hamutuk nota katak iha Livru 4, despeza rekorrente kontinua sa’e 4% anuál iha kada liña, no despeza liu FI la muda husi 2022 ba 2026. Laiha informasaun kona-ba reseita petrolíferu hafoin 2023. La’o Hamutuk haree númeru sira ne’e la ho baze planeamentu ida sériu, no husu atu PN diskute kle’an ho Governu hodi hatene klaru kada programa no projetu sira ho kustu tomak no nian projesaun sira. 

OJE fó projesaun despeza la sustentável ba tinan tuir mai. Governu halo planu despeza la tuir situasaun finanseiru Timor-Leste nian, preve projesaun boot liu iha momentu ne’ebé produsaun mina no gas atu remata, fundu petrolíferu ameasa atu hotu no kapasidade ekonomia doméstiku seidauk forte atu sustenta nesesidade Estadu no Povu nian. Nune’e, ami sujere atu PN diskute kle’an ho Governu atu konsidera ita nian situasaun finanseiru no ekonómiku antes deside diresaun dezenvolvimentu ba futuru. Timor-Leste nian rezerva mina no gas kuaze konverte ona ba osan, ne’ebé agora investe hela iha merkadu finanseiru internasionál ne’ebé ninian flutuasaun ita labele kontrola, husi Fundu Petrolíferu uitoan ne’ebé ita iha, sei mohu leet de’it kuandu ita la uza ho matenek hodi ajuda harii rekursu umanu ida ne’ebé forte no harii setór produtivu ne’ebé sustentável iha rai laran. Nudár ezemplu, maske Governu atuál deklara atu halo avaliasaun ba planu harii Projetu Tasi Mane ho nian komponente sira, too agora ami seidauk haree prosesu avaliasaun maibé kontinua aloka osan hanesan tokon $1.5 iha 2022 no tokon $747 ba tinan 4 tuir mai, inklui alokasaun atu dezloka komunidade sira husi fatin ne'ebé karik nunka hetan projetu foun. 

Presiza informasaun kompletu kona ba impaktu husi empréstimu. Too agora Governu Timor-Leste halo ona empréstimu total liu tokon $500, husi empréstimu ida ne’e presiza iha liu tan informasaun kona-ba planu klaru ba desimbolsu no planu atu halo tan diskusaun ba empréstimu foun. Proposta OGE 2022 introdús bareira ba empréstimu foun mak tokon $410. Ami sujere ba Parlamentu Nasional atu diskute kle’an kona-ba implikasaun husi empréstimu ne’e ba tempu naruk Timor-Leste nian. 

Sistema orsamentu 'Bazeia ba Programa' seidauk la’o tuir objetivu no subar informasaun esensiál. La’o Hamutuk hanoin orsamentasaun bazeia ba programa di’ak atu hametin sistema orsamentál, maibé bainhira entidade sira aloka atividade oin-oin ba kategoria programa sira la tuir realidade, ka laiha konsisténsia, bele hamenus transparénsia no falta atu lori benefísiu ba prosesu orsamentál. Nune’e ami sujere ba Parlamentu Nasional atu diskute kle’an ho Governu hodi hadi'ak liu tan sistema orsamentasaun ne’ebé promove liu tan transparénsia no akontabilidade, no atu fornese informasaun kona-ba alokasaun ba kada órgaun no diresaun estadu nian. 

Tenke investe liu iha rekursu umanu, hanesan edukasaun, saúde, bee no agrikultura. Ami nota diferensa boot entre narrativa Governu nian sobre prioridade ba setór sosiál no ekonómiku no alokasaun sira, tanba iha proposta OGE 2022 Governu aloka de’it 17% husi total ba funsaun importante haat ne’e. Ami enkoraja atu Deputadu/a sira diskute no hamutuk deside diresaun orsamentál ne’ebé bazeia ba realidade atuál no ajuda duni povu ne’ebé merese liu atu hetan tulun. 

Labele fó subsídiu ba funsionáriu públiku bainhira komunidade rurais barak enfrenta hamlaha. Ami nota katak planu oferese subsídiu tokon $25 ba funsionáriu iha kontradisaun ho objetivu ne’ebé Governu define atu alkansa seguransa ai-han, hadi’ak nutrisaun no promove agrikultura sustentável. Ami sujere atu Governu bele organiza ho idea estratéjiku liu hodi oferese apoiu ba agrikultór sira duke funsionáriu públiku ne’ebé simu ona saláriu kada fulan. 

Ami hare erru no informasaun sala barak iha dokumentu OJE nian, no husu Governu atu fó informasaun loos no PN atu konfirma dadus sira iha livru OGE 2022.  Nudár ezemplu, Tabela 12 iha livru 1 hatete katak tokon $40.2 sei aloka ba EDTL, E.P. iha 2022, maibé alokasaun loos ho montante tokon $90. Aleinde ne’e, tokon $0.4 ba BTL, E.P., maibé realidade hamutuk tokon $17.  Total husi tabela 12 mak sorin balu husi alokasaun loos.  Bele haree tan ezemplu sira seluk iha ami nian submisaun. 

La’o Hamutuk fó rekomendasaun espesífiku ualu ba Parlamentu no Governu, ne'ebé bele hare iha submisaun.

La’o Hamutuk observations on the proposed 2022 State Budget

 Liga ba artigu ida ne'e iha Tetum

Every year, in accordance with constitutional requirements, the Government proposes the annual General State Budget to National Parliament for discussion, revision and approval. On 15 October, Government presented its proposal for 2022, and Parliament is currently holding hearings to hear various perspectives. La’o Hamutuk was invited by Committee C (Public Finances) to testify on 15 November and make a written submission (Tetum). Follow this link for more documents and analysis on the 2022 state budget. The following are some of the main points in La’o Hamutuk’s submission: 

Members of Parliament and the public need accurate and complete information before making decisions, which should be based on strong facts and evidence to reduce the chance of error and to move Timor-Leste in the right direction for the future.  For example, we need complete information from the Ministry of Finance and TimorGAP about the revaluation of the Petroleum Fund’s investment in Greater Sunrise from $700 million to zero.

Future projections should be done seriously, about recurrent spending, spending from the Infrastructure Fund and petroleum revenues. La’o Hamutuk notes that in Book 4, recurrent spending increases 4% on every line, and Infrastructure Fund spending is unchanged from 2022 to 2026. No information is provided about petroleum revenue forecasts after 2023. La’o Hamutuk believes that these numbers are not based on serious planning, and we ask Parliament to have in-depth discussions with Government to clearly understand the total costs and projections for each program and project.

The budget proposal includes unsustainable projections for future years. Government’s spending plans are not based on Timor-Leste’s financial situation, and expect major increases at the moment when oil and gas production will end, the Petroleum Fund will empty soon, and our domestic economy is not yet strong enough to support the needs of the State and the People. Therefore, we suggest that Parliament urge Government to consider our financial and economic situation before deciding the direction for future development. Timor-Leste oil and gas reserves have already been almost entirely converted to cash, which is invested in international financial markets whose fluctuations are beyond our control. The finite amount in our Petroleum Fund will be quickly exhausted if we don’t use it wisely to support building strong human resources and sustainable productive sectors.

For example, although the current Government has stated that it will re-evaluate the plan to build the Tasi Mane Project and its components, we have not yet seen the evaluation process but continue to allocate money: $1.5 million in 2022 and $747 million in the following four years, including allocations to displace community people from areas where the project may never be built.

We need more complete information about the impacts of borrowing. To date, Government has borrowed more than $500 million, and there should be more specifics about disbursement and plans for additional borrowing, which the proposed budget limits to $410 million in 2022. We suggest that Parliament explore the long-term implications of these loans for Timor-Leste.

The “program-based budgeting” system doesn’t meet its goals and hides essential information. La’o Hamutuk agrees that a budget base on programs is good to strengthen the budgeting system, but when entities’ allocations of their activities to programs doesn’t match reality, or is inconsistent, it reduces transparency and fails to improve the budget process. Therefore, we suggest that Parliament ask Government to improve the budgeting system to promote transparency and accountability, and to provide information about allocations to each state organ and directorate.

Timor-Leste should invest more in human resources, such as education, health, water and agriculture. We see a big difference between the Government’s talk about prioritizing social and economic sectors and the budget allocations – the proposed 2022 budget appropriates only 17% for these four important areas. We encourage the Members of Parliament to discuss this, and together to decide a budget direction based on current realities, to truly help those people most in need of support.

We should not subsidize civil servants while many rural communities confront hunger. We note that the plan to offer a $25 million food subsidy for government employees contradicts the Government’s stated goals of achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. We suggest that Government could find more strategic ways to support farmers themselves, rather than public servants who already get monthly salaries.

We noticed many errors in the budget documents, and ask Government to give accurate information, and ask Parliament to confirm data in the budget books. For example, Table 12 in Book 1 says that $40.2 million will be allocated to EDTL, E.P. in 2022, but the real amount is $90 million. The table says $0.4 million will go to BTL, E.P., but the reality is $17 million. The total in Table 12 is about half of the actual allocation. Our submission gives many other examples.

La’o Hamutuk offered eight specific recommendations to Parliament and Government, which you can read in our submission.