The central government’s long-term debt amounted to 34.67 percent of the average GNP for the past three years at the end of last month, still below the statutory debt ceiling of 40 percent, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
The long-term debt, representing outstanding debt with a maturity of more than one year, stood at NT$4.605 trillion (US$152.42 billion) as of last month, below the debt limit regulated by the Public Debt Act (公共債務法), the ministry’s statistics showed.
“This indicates that the nation’s finances remain steady,” Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) told a press conference.
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Outstanding long-term debt for Taiwan’s local governments — including special municipalities — totaled NT$604.5 billion, accounting for 4.55 percent of the average GNP for the past three years at the end of last month, also below the debt limit of 8 percent, statistics showed.
That brought the nation’s overall long-term debt as of last month, which stood at NT$5.209 trillion, to 39.22 percent of the average GNP for the past three years, according to the ministry’s data.
In terms of local governments, long-term debt for Yilan County and Hsinchu City at the end of last month, which accounted for 61.49 percent and 48.62 percent of the governments’ annual expenditure respectively, exceeded the statutory debt ceiling of 45 percent, National Treasury Agency Director-General Joanne Ling (凌忠嫄) said.
“We would ask these two governments to propose a reasonable repayment plan to improve the current situation,” Ling said.
WITHHOLDING REVENUE
If the two governments cannot lower their respective debts, the centrally allotted tax revenue originally set to be distributed to them would be withheld. However, the tax would be allocated on schedule if they improve their debt situations, Ling said.
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