Díli, Oct. 6, 2025 (Lusa) – The infrastructure, oil, education, electricity and health sectors receive the largest share of the Timor-Leste Government's proposed general state budget for 2026, amounting to US$2.291 billion.
Although in June the Timorese Government set the proposed general state budget (OGE) expenditure at US$1.85 billion (€1.598 billion), last week it approved a proposal with a figure of US$2.291 billion (€1.96 billion), about US$300 million (€257 million) less than what was approved in 2025.
Under the slogan ‘Investing in National Transformation, Regional Integration and Inclusive Development,’ the largest share of the 2026 state budget goes to infrastructure, with US$223 million (around €191 million) allocated to the Roads and Bridges Programme, very close to the US$227.3 million (€194 million) allocated in 2025.
For the oil and mineral resources sector, the 2026 state budget provides an allocation of US$194.1 million (around €166.2 million) for the Tasi Mane project, technical and business advances in Greater Sunrise, the Bayu Undan transition and geological studies.
Education will receive US$181.7 million (€155.6 million) compared to US$145.8 million (€124.9 million) allocated in 2025.
Of that amount, US$108.9 million (€93.29 million) will go to primary education, US$21.7 million (€18.59 million) to secondary education, $US13.7 million (€11.74 million) to higher education and US$10.6 million (around nine million euros) to pre-school education .
The electricity sector will receive US$138.5 million (€118.6 million) for grid modernisation, construction of the solar power plant in Laleia, the Ataúro hybrid solution and the rural electrification programme.
In health, the allocation is US$138.3 million (€118.4 million), compared to US$99.2 million (€84.9 million) allocated in 2025, for hospitalisations, treatments and infrastructure rehabilitation, and the expansion of primary health care.
The Government highlights the construction of the new paediatric building and a cardiac unit at the Guido Valadares National Hospital and the strengthening of the national ambulance and emergency medical service.
The agricultural sector, considered essential by the Government for food security and rural poverty reduction, will see its allocation decrease to US$43.4 million (around €37 million), compared to the US$50 million (around €42.8 million) allocated in 2025.
The Human Capital Development Fund will receive US$20.6 million (€17.6 million), US$3 million more than in 2025, for national and international scholarships in critical areas, namely health, engineering, agriculture and public administration.
The Government estimates that more than 1,000 students will benefit from scholarships in 2026 to ‘strengthen human capital in line with market needs’.
The 2026 state budget also provides for authorising the Timorese Government to take on new public debt up to the amount of US$850 million (around €728 million).
MSE/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
