The government plans next year to sell NT$60 billion (US$1.88 billion) of stocks, including those of Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) and Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), to help fund spending and reduce the budget deficit.
It may also sell shares of Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), Taiyen Biotech Co (台鹽生技) and Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp (台灣菸酒), Vice Minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Chen Ching-tsai (陳慶財) said yesterday.
"We'll sell mostly banking shares," Chen said. "This is because they're easier to dispose of and bank mergers are encouraged."
The government is selling state assets including stocks to pare the rising deficits. Growth in tax revenue has stalled in part because of incentives offered to technology companies to spur investment.
Proceeds from the share sales will help fund the government's planned spending of NT$1.6 trillion next year, which is NT$195.7 billion more than projected income, Chen said.
Including funds needed to repay existing debt, the budget deficit will probably total NT$260.7 billion next year, he said.
The projected deficit, which is 22 percent narrower than the NT$334.7 billion forecast for this year, comes as the government tries to cut spending, Chen said.
A NT$260.7 billion deficit would be the smallest since President Chen Shui-bian (
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