The International Monetary Fund forecasts that East Timorese gross domestic product, excluding the contribution of oil, will grow by 3 percent this year as expansion of the economy slows and government spending diminishes, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes the head of an IMF mission that visited East Timor recently, Yu Ching Wong, as saying: “The medium-term outlook for Timor-Leste depends critically on economic diversification, as its active oil fields will be depleted by 2022.”

The IMF thinks East Timor needs policies that will lay the foundations of a more diverse economy and reforms to ensure fiscal sustainability in the long run, Lusa says.