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Cash support in Timor Leste

Amelia Rule · Wed, 04/14/2021 - 17:45

Hello Cash COP - quick question - any one have an idea of what a cash transfer amount would look like for housing repairs in Timor Leste (Dili)? Or do you know much about the transfer modalities available? I here it is predominanty a cash based market - i.e few bank accounts/ cards etc. Thanks!

Leeanne · Thu, 04/15/2021 - 01:43

Hi Amelia, am trying to do a bit of investigation around this, will let you know what I find. From when I was last there I would agree that it's predominantly a cash based market. 

JWeatherall · Thu, 04/15/2021 - 04:12

Hey Amelia! For the transfer modality question, I was checking around also, and it sounds like the main delivery mechanism being considered is direct cash (e.g. by the agency) but I'm not sure if there are Financial Service Provider (FSP) options that do direct cash distributions also? It sounds like the govenrment used their own staff and village chiefs to distribute cash to households in their recent response providing large scale transfers to mitigate the impact of covid-19 (see here: https://devpolicy.org/timor-lestes-covid-19-cash-transfer-good-if-you-g…). I also found this financial service sector overview from 2019 (https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/529856/pacific-fina…) that outlines some info on financial access and services in the country more generally. I'll share anything else I find out!