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To: long-gone who wrote (47410)	1/24/2000 8:06:00 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116791

OT. I guess when your the world military superpower and the world reserve currency you buy or take whatever you want. Timor opts for US dollar as legal tender The US dollar has been chosen as the legal tender in East Timor for the duration of the transition period until the territory gains full independence, it was announced here Monday. The decision was taken by the chief of the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAET), Sergio de Mello, after talks with the National Consultative Council (NCC) and was announced at a press confernece. Present were UNTAET chief of administration, Jean Christian Cady, Joao Carrascalao from the National Council for East Timor (CNRT) and the NCC, and IMF representative Luis Valdivieso. The decison, effective Monday, means the US dollar cannot not be refused in East Timor and that all government transactions would be made in US dollars. Compulsory payments such as taxes, airport fees and the like can be paid in dollars, Indonesian rupiah or other currencies, but with an accompanying fee. Cady said people who are now using a mix of Australian, US dollars and Indonesian rupiah would continue to be free to use any currency that they agreed on. He said UNTAET would attempt to educate the population, who have been using the Indonesian rupiah for the past 24 years, to use the dollar. He said the supply of dollars would be provided by the UN budget for East Timor, of some 30 million US dollars annually, and international community pledges of 525 million dollars in aid, made during an aid conference in Tokyo last year. The IMF representative said the decision to adopt the greenback as legal tender was a unanimous decision by the NCC. Joao Carrascalao said the CNRT would like to introduce its own currency, because a national currency was a sign of sovereignty. The choice of the dollar, according to informed East Timorese sources, came down to a last-minute decision between the US currency and the Portuguese escudo. Members of both the CNRT and the NCC had been divided on the issue, the sources said. Portuguese sources said Lisbon had argued to have the escudo named the legal tender of their former colony, but that the guarantees they had offered had been insufficient. In addition, the requisit approval of the European Bank in Frankfurt would have delayed the decision, they said. The choice of the dollar, considered the most pragmatic decision, was recommended by the IMF, which sent a mission to East Timor last year to study the subject, the sources said. voila.co.uk