Premier Frank Hsieh (
The government will earmark NT$200 billion (US$6.4 billion) for loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Hsieh told a press briefing, adding that the Financial Supervisory Commission will negotiate with local banks and announce more details of this measure sometime next week.
The government will also provide NT$100 billion in credit guarantees to each SME borrowing from the banks, on a first-come-first-serve basis, Hsieh said.
As the government-backed preferential mortgages for first-time homebuyers is about to expire in June, the government has decided to provide another NT$300 billion beginning on June 1, the premier said.
First-time homebuyers in Taipei are currently eligible for a NT$2.5 million bank loan, which they can pay back over 20 years. For those in other cities, the loans are limited to NT$2 million.
Despite facing a lower-than-expected GDP forecast, Hsieh said many foreign investors are still confident in the nation's business environment and believe that they will earn the money they deserve here.
This remark is supported by recent stock-exchange statistics that show foreign investors possess Taiwanese shares worth NT$3.3 trillion, compared with NT$1.3 trillion five years ago.
"It is our own problem that our fellow Taiwanese investors are not confident in themselves and this country. Fortune belongs to confident investors," Hsieh said.
The premier said he has asked his fellow Cabinet members to do whatever they can to carry out important policies within the framework of current legislation, even though these laws may not be amended by the legislature in time.
"Everybody is complaining about the sluggish legislative process. However, complaining cannot solve problems," Hsieh said.
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