Rui Gomes (politician)
Rui Augusto Gomes (born 21 September 1958) is an East Timorese politician, administrator and academic. He is the incumbent Minister of Finance, serving since November 2020 under the VIII Constitutional Government of East Timor led by Taur Matan Ruak. Previously, he served in the same office in the earlier VII Constitutional Government, as economic adviser and Chief of Staff to the President of East Timor, and as a university lecturer. Early life and career. Gomes was born in Dili. He holds a PhD from London South Bank University. As of 1998, he was a lecturer at the  University of Porto. Political career. On 5 August 2015, Taur Matan Ruak, who was then the President of East Timor, appointed Gomes as his Chief of Staff, replacing Fidelis Leite Magalhães. Previously, Gomes had been a personal advisor to the President on economic issues. On 15 September 2017, Gomes was sworn in as Minister for Planning and Finance in the VII Government led by Mari Alkatiri. His term of office ended on 22 June 2018 when the VIII Government took over, and he reverted being an economic adviser to the President. On 18 June 2020, Gomes was entrusted with the  role of President of the Commission for the Preparation of the Economic Recovery Plan for East Timor following the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission's responsibility was to recommend to the VIII Government the measures to be adopted and the actions to be taken for the recovery of East Timor's national economy. On 23 November 2020, Gomes was re-appointed as Minister of Finance to succeed his own successor Fernando Hanjam, who had had to resign due to ill health.