The Council for Economic Planning and Development yesterday approved a NT$216.6 billion (US$7.5 billion) budget for major public construction projects next year, the lowest level budget in the past 10 years.
However, the impact of the NT$216.6 billion budget may increase the nation’s real GDP by 1.29 percentage points next year, while also creating 85,000 to 100,600 jobs, the council said in a statement.
“We carefully considered the necessity and urgency of each project with representatives from other government agencies before approving the budget,” Council for the Economic Planning and Development Deputy Minister Hwang Wang-hsiang (黃萬翔) said.
The council invited officials — including from the Ministry of Finance, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the Public Construction Commission and the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission — to join yesterday’s budget review.
The budget included NT$125.2 billion for special priority projects, NT$81.8 billion for second-tier priority projects and NT$9.6 billion that can be procured from other state funds, the council said.
Projects led by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications accounted for about half of the budget, with the budget for train tracks and highways topping the list at NT$60.3 billion and NT$49.3 billion respectively, the statement said.
The budget for agricultural construction projects stood at NT$19.2 billion, while the budget for flood control and drainage plans amounted to NT$13.8 billion, the statement showed.
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