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Nearly 98% of consumer vouchers used

A total of NT$81.58 billion (US$2.52 billion) in consumer vouchers have been cashed, accounting for 97.98 percent of those issued, although shops and stores may cash remaining vouchers until Nov. 2, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday.

The government issued NT$83.26 billion in consumer vouchers, giving each citizen NT$3,600 between January and April in an effort to raise GDP by 0.66 percentage points this year.

While the vouchers expired on Wednesday, stores and shops can continue to cash them at financial institutions free of charge until Nov. 2, the statement said.

The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), which orchestrated the stimulus plan to allay the pain of the economic downturn, said the vouchers helped raise GDP by between 0.3 and 0.5 percentage points based on a preliminary study.

CEPD chief secretary York Liao (廖耀宗) said the study is ongoing and the council would brief the legislature of the final findings later this month.

Government data showed most vouchers — nearly 50 percent — were used in February, while 15.74 percent were used in March and 7.45 percent were used in January.

Liao said about 70 percent of the vouchers were used for purchases that would have been made anyway, dampening the intended multiplier effect.
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