A stark example is the floating Hotel Olympia, sitting in Dili harbour for the use of UN personnel. Even before the UN decision, only US and Australian dollars, and escudos, were accepted as legal tender. One youth leader commented that the rich and the poor were using two different sets of currencies. For the most part, ordinary Timorese people are excluded by sheer poverty from the dollar economy. An ad hoc price survey by the World Bank found that the cost of living for poor households increased by 200 percent between August and September.
Most people remain unemployed and homeless.
The few employed by official or aid organisations are paid a pittance. Aid agencies have agreed between themselves to pay equally low wages to local staff. In some cases, the UN and relief agencies do not even pay cash, using food handouts instead. Official dollarisation will further widen the already growing inequality. The WSWS invites your comments.