# Timor-Leste

- Link: https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/
- Published: 2026-05-22T22:16:17-05:00
- Author: Preeti Sinha

National Blueprint · One of 195

# Timor-Leste

A young nation of 1.4 million whose Petroleum Fund held $18.43 billion at the end
of June 2026, about nine times its non-oil economy on IMF figures, while only one
household in five cooks with clean fuel.

Perfect Nations values what Timor-Leste owns and raises capital against it, through**
innovative financing for development (FfD)** and **super intelligence (SI)**.

Timor-Leste at a glance

 * **1.4m**PeopleWorld Bank
 * _Furthest from reach · Energy_**81%**of Timorese still cook without clean fuels
   [World Bank, 2024](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.CFT.ACCS.ZS?locations=TL)
 * **1**Instrument or investment on record[Capital already committed](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-register)

[Work with us](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-studio)[Read the Letter to Timor-Leste](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-letter)

What we do for Timor-Leste

## Assets. Capital. Solutions.

Perfect Nations is a new-age sovereign advisory firm, and its clients are nations.

 1. [01AssetsThe cupFive sovereign assets, valued, from The Petroleum Fund to The Farmland.](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-assets)
 2. [02CapitalThe laurelsOne instrument on record, sourced.](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-capital)
 3. [03SolutionsThe seven starsSeven basic standards of living, star by star. Energy is furthest from reach today.](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-pc)

**The whole logo:** a Perfect Nation, where every citizen has all seven basic standards
of living, led by good governance.

[01](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-do)**Assets** · The cup·
Sovereign Assets

## Five assets no balance sheet counts.

Each is owned today, earns today, and can carry Timor-Leste toward seven basic standards
of living for every citizen.

 * **$18.43bn**Savings from oil and gas, 30 June 2026
 * 
   ### The Petroleum Fund
   
 * A sovereign fund larger than the economy many times over: the nation’s endowment.
 * **71%**Of the land under forest, 2024
 * 
   ### The Forest
   
 * Forest across seven tenths of the land, and coffee grown in its shade.
 * **1.4m**Citizens, 2025
 * 
   ### The People
   
 * 33.1% are under fifteen: a young nation with its working life ahead.
 * **64%**Of export earnings from visitors, 2018
 * 
   ### The Visitors
   
 * Reefs of the Coral Triangle and mountain trails: a visitor economy still to grow.
 * **23%**Of the land in agriculture, 2023
 * 
   ### The Farmland
   
 * Land that can feed the nation and earn abroad, valued and financed against its
   harvest.

[Every figure, with its source](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-sources)
[The Sovereign Assets ledger](https://perfectnations.com/sovereign-assets/)

[02](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-do)**Capital** · The 
laurels · Capital Architecture

## A sovereign fund that must outlast the oil.

Bonds, guarantees, swaps and loans that raise capital against what Timor-Leste owns,
every line sourced.

[Capital Architecture](https://perfectnations.com/capital-architecture/)

The record in figures

 * **$18.43bn**Petroleum Fund balance at 30 June 2026, up from $18.31 billion in
   March[Central Bank of Timor-Leste, 2026](https://www.bancocentral.tl/uploads/documentos/documento_1786069835_6085.pdf)
 * **$19.06bn**Withdrawn from the Petroleum Fund to finance state budgets since 
   2005[Tatoli, 2026](https://en.tatoli.tl/?p=70579)
 * **13.3%**General government gross debt, share of GDP, 2025[IMF, WEO Oct 2026](https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/GGXWDG_NGDP@WEO/TLS)
 * **4%**Real GDP growth projected for 2026[IMF, WEO Oct 2026](https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/TLS)

Capital already committed

 * GovernmentHeldPetroleum Fund of Timor-Leste$18.43bn
 * Central Bank of Timor-Leste · Quarterly report, 30 June 2026
 * The nation’s savings from oil and gas, invested abroad and drawn on by Parliament
   for each budget.
 * Ministry of FinanceCentral Bank of Timor-Leste
 * [Source](https://www.bancocentral.tl/uploads/documentos/documento_1786069835_6085.pdf)

### The Timor-Leste Newswire

[The Solutions Wire](https://perfectnations.com/state-of-nations/#sn-wire)

![Ermelinda Soares, Nation Steward of Timor-Leste](https://perfectnations.com/wp-
content/uploads/2026/11/Ermelinda-Soares-Nation-Steward-of-Timor-Leste-150x150.png)

**Ermelinda Soares**Nation Steward of Timor-Leste · SI ResearcherLast updated 10
November 2026

 * 7 Aug 2026[**Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund rises to US$18.43 billion in Second Quarter**](https://en.tatoli.tl/2026/08/07/timor-leste-petroleum-fund-rises-to-us18-43-billion-in-second-quarter/17/)
   Tatoli
 * 30 Sep 2025[**Land Reform Key to Unlocking Timor-Leste’s Economic Future, New World Bank Report Says**](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/09/30/land-reform-key-to-unlocking-timor-leste-economic-future-new-world-bank-report-says)
   World Bank
 * 26 Sep 2025[**IMF Executive Board Concludes 2025 Article IV Consultation for Timor-Leste**](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/09/25/pr-25315-timor-leste-imf-executive-board-concludes-2025-article-iv-consultation)
   IMF

## Already working in Timor-Leste.

Independent firms and social enterprises already at work in Timor-Leste, highlighted
by Perfect Nations. None is a partner of Perfect Nations.

[Suggest an enterprise](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/contact@perfectnations.com?subject=An%20enterprise%20already%20at%20work%20in%20Timor-Leste)

 * 
   ### The first firms and social enterprises at work in Timor-Leste are being gathered.
   
 * Name one already at work there: it may be highlighted here, with its source.

[03](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-do)**Solutions** · The
seven stars · Perfect Capita

## Perfect Timor-Leste, _star by star._

**Perfect Capita** is the yearly cost, per person, of lifting everyone above the
Living Line in all seven basic living standards, set with Timor-Leste in its own
prices.

[How Perfect Capita works](https://perfectnations.com/perfect-capita/)

**19%**

Energy · furthest from reach19% cook with clean fuels and technology; 94.3% have
electricity[World Bank, 2024](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.CFT.ACCS.ZS?locations=TL)

Tap a star for its figure and source.

The price of Perfect Timor-Leste

To be set with Timor-Leste, from its own figures and in its own prices: Perfect 
Capita times the people of Timor-Leste, each year.

Read more

 * Food**46.3%**Not food insecure; 53.7% are moderately or severely food insecure
   [FAO, 2021](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SN.ITK.MSFI.ZS?locations=TL)
 * Water**87.3%**Basic drinking water; safely managed water is not measured (lenient)
   [WHO/UNICEF, 2024](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.H2O.BASW.ZS?locations=TL)
 * Shelter**66.1%**City dwellers outside slums; 33.9% live in slums; safely managed
   sanitation is not measured[UN-Habitat, 2022](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP.SLUM.UR.ZS?locations=TL)
 * Energy**19%**19% cook with clean fuels and technology; 94.3% have electricity
   [World Bank, 2024](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.CFT.ACCS.ZS?locations=TL)
 * Education**88.3**88.3% of young people complete lower secondary school; 2020,
   dated[World Bank, 2020](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.CMPT.LO.ZS?locations=TL)
 * Health**48**WHO service coverage index[WHO, 2023](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/universal-health-coverage-index?country=~TLS)
 * Livelihood**28.6%**Above US$4.20 a day; 71.4% live below it, dated[World Bank, 2014](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.LMIC?locations=TL)

Perfect Nations estimate, to be confirmed with Timor-Leste. Figures marked dated
rest on surveys more than five years old; lenient measures are marked as such. [The strict measures](https://perfectnations.com/perfect-capita/#pq-measures)

Strict measures. Food: share not moderately or severely food insecure (FAO). Water:
safely managed drinking water where measured; where it is not, basic water, marked
as such. Shelter: the lower of safely managed sanitation and the share outside urban
slums. Energy: the lower of electricity per person against 1,000 kWh and clean cooking;
where electricity per person is not published, clean cooking. Education: the lower
of children reading by the end of primary school and lower-secondary completion.
Health: WHO service coverage index. Livelihood: share above the stricter of the 
national poverty line and the World Bank line for the nation’s income group (US$
8.30 a day for high-income nations). Each figure links to its source.

### Solutions for Perfect Timor-Leste

[All Solutions](https://perfectnations.com/state-of-nations/#sn-solutions)

 * **The Solution for Timor-Leste**Energy
 * 
   ### Finance clean power and clean cooking at national scale.
   
    - **01****The challenge**81% Of Timorese still cook without clean fuels. [World Bank, 2024](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.CFT.ACCS.ZS?locations=TL)
    - **02****The deal**
    - Sovereign green bond, proved in India, 2023: INR 16,000 cr in the first issuance.
      [Reserve Bank of India, 2023](https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=55004)
    - **03****What Perfect Nations advises**Nations where energy is furthest from
      reach should issue a sovereign green bond ring-fenced for clean power and 
      clean cooking. With super intelligence, the switch can be priced for every
      household still cooking with wood, charcoal or kerosene, and every project
      the bond finances reported to investors.
 * Co-design it in**The ReDesign Studio**[The three mandates](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/#bp-mandates)

Perfect Nations® · Letters to the NationsTimor-Leste

## Dear Timor-Leste,

You saved your oil wealth in a fund that is many times the size of your economy,
and a third of you are under fifteen.

Read more

More than nine in ten of you have electricity, yet only one in five cooks with clean
fuel. Let the fund invest in every kitchen and every young worker before the oil
runs out.

“The fund is the nation’s endowment. Let it reach every kitchen before the oil runs
out.”

Yours in design,**Preeti Sinha**President and CEO, Perfect Nations

Work with us · The ReDesign Studio

## The Perfect Timor-Leste _ReDesign Studio_

One mission, three depths: the same four moves for Timor-Leste, taken as far toward
market as you choose.

Read more

For the Government of Timor-Leste, its development partners and investors. Scope
and fees are agreed in writing before any work begins.

 1. **01**Identify the assets
 2. **02**Estimate Perfect Capita
 3. **03**Co-design the capital architecture
 4. **04**Launch the instruments

 1.  Mandate 013 hours
 2.  
     ### The Nation Briefing
     
 3.  A private session for the people who decide.
 4.  You leave withThe gap, named and sized
 5.  Read more
 6.   a. **01**The five sovereign assets on this page, walked through.
      b. **02**Energy, the standard furthest from reach, and the Gap, explained.
      c. **03**The instruments that could close the Gap, shortlisted.
      d. **04**The path to market, outlined.
 7.  [Request a Nation Briefing](https://perfectnations.com/contact/?about=briefing&country=Timor-Leste)
 8.  Mandate 023 days
 9.  
     ### The Blueprint Lab
     
 10. Your team and ours, working the blueprint together.
 11. You leave withThe structure, drawn
 12. Read more
 13.  a. **01**The ledger tested against your ministries’ own data.
      b. **02**Each of the seven standards costed in local prices.
      c. **03**One financing structure, drawn with your team.
      d. **04**A term sheet and the partners to approach.
 14. [Plan a Blueprint Lab](https://perfectnations.com/contact/?about=lab&country=Timor-Leste)
 15. Mandate 03End to end
 16. 
     ### The Sovereign Mandate
     
 17. Led personally by the President and CEO.
 18. You leave withA structure ready for market
 19. Read more
 20.  a. **01**A full sovereign asset ledger, valued and verified.
      b. **02**Perfect Capita set and agreed with government, with a monitoring plan.
      c. **03**The full structure: legal form, credit enhancement, guarantees and pricing.
      d. **04**Taken to investors and development partners, through to close.
 21. [Discuss a Sovereign Mandate](https://perfectnations.com/contact/?about=commission&country=Timor-Leste)

### Co-design it with us

Where Timorese and Co-designers design the nation they want to live in.

 * Writings
 * 
   #### Write Perfect Timor-Leste into being.
   
 * Up to 1,500 words on your vision of Perfect Timor-Leste, published with your 
   name.
 * [Submit your writing](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/contact@perfectnations.com?subject=Writing%20for%20Perfect%20Timor-Leste&body=Your%20name%2C%20or%20a%20pen%20name%3A%0D%0AWhere%20you%20live%3A%0D%0ATitle%3A%0D%0A%0D%0AYour%20vision%20of%20Perfect%20Timor-Leste%2C%20and%20the%20economic%20solutions%20to%20achieve%20it%20%28up%20to%201%2C500%20words%29%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0AI%20confirm%20that%20this%20is%20my%20own%20original%20writing%2C%20and%20I%20give%20Perfect%20Nations%20permission%20to%20publish%20it%20with%20credit%20to%20me.%0D%0A)
 * Voices of Perfect Nations Launching soon
 * 
   #### The local leaders already building Perfect Timor-Leste.
   
 * Great local leaders: honest, dedicated and committed to basic standards of living
   for all. Every guest answers one question: “What does Timor-Leste already own,
   and how could it pay for a decent life for every citizen?”
 * [Nominate yourself](https://perfectnations.com/contact/?nation=timor-leste&topic=nominate-self)
   [Suggest a guest](https://perfectnations.com/contact/?nation=timor-leste&topic=guest)
 * Co-designers
 * 
   #### Join the community.
   
 * Everyone who shares a vision, a voice or an enterprise here becomes a **Co-designer
   of Perfect Timor-Leste**.
 * [Become a Co-designer](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/timor-leste/contact@perfectnations.com?subject=Becoming%20a%20Co-designer%20of%20Perfect%20Timor-Leste&body=Your%20name%3A%0D%0AWhere%20you%20live%3A%0D%0AHow%20you%20would%20like%20to%20contribute%20%28writing%2C%20a%20voice%20for%20the%20podcast%2C%20an%20enterprise%2C%20your%20expertise%29%3A%0D%0A)

The Timor-Leste ReDesign Studio is open

## Design Perfect Timor-Leste with us.

Share your vision, suggest a guest, or write to us: every message receives a personal
reply.

[Enter the ReDesign Studio](https://perfectnations.com/design-studio/)[Write to us](https://perfectnations.com/contact/?nation=timor-leste)
[All 195 nations](https://perfectnations.com/blueprints/)

Sources

 1. World Bank, World Development Indicators (API), accessed 10 November 2026: population
    and ages 0 to 14, 2025; land area and agricultural and forest land; renewable fresh
    water per person, 2022; natural resource, oil, gas and mineral rents, 2021; renewable
    electricity output, 2021; tourism receipts; personal remittances; electricity access
    and clean cooking.
 2. The seven standards: FAO food insecurity, WHO/UNICEF JMP water and sanitation, 
    UN-Habitat urban slums, World Bank clean cooking, learning poverty and lower-secondary
    completion, and poverty headcounts (all via the World Bank); WHO UHC service coverage
    index, 2023.
 3. IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026 (DataMapper, accessed 10 November 2026):
    general government gross debt, 2025, and real GDP growth projected for 2026.
 4. Central Bank of Timor-Leste, press release on the Petroleum Fund Q2 2026 report;
    Tatoli, 8 May and 7 August 2026.
 5. IMF press release 25/315; World Bank press release of 30 September 2025.