Timor-Leste contained the spread of COVID-19 through quick and decisive action, and it has adopted a plan for recovery from the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic.
It acted rapidly on COVID-19 with a two-pronged approach. First, it put in place a system of health controls to keep the disease at bay, and second, it made good use of the fiscal space provided by its sovereign petroleum fund to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the crisis.
The government then took the opportunity to look beyond short term emergency measures and charted out an ambitious economic recovery plan with the aim of carrying out in-depth structural reforms. Timor-Leste’s effective management of the crisis has paved the way to move forward to implement longer-term measures.
This policy brief is based on background analysis done for the Government of Timor-Leste’s Economic Recovery Plan.
This paper originated from Development Asia