The national debt worked out to NT$209,000 (US$7,195) per person at the end of last month, down NT$2,000 per person from a month earlier, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
“The decrease in the national debt last month came from the rise in tax revenues this year, which increased the government’s funds to pay the debt,” National Treasury Agency Deputy Director Tang Ming-hui (湯明輝) told a media briefing.
Reduced demand for short-term loans also helped cut the debt.
In February, the national debt stood at a relatively higher level, as capital demand from the government rose during the Lunar New Year holiday, Tang said.
The national debt stood at NT$4.85 trillion as of the end of last month, down NT$40 billion from NT$4.89 trillion reported at the end of February, ministry data showed.
The national debt includes both long-term and short-term debt. Based on the ministry’s data, outstanding debt with a maturity of more than one year totaled NT$4.619 trillion last month, up from NT$4.649 trillion a month earlier.
Outstanding short-term debt stood at NT$230 billion last month, down from NT$240 billion the previous month.
The ministry began publishing a Web-based “National Debt Clock” in December. The aim was to remind government agencies to monitor their spending.
The national debt has increased by NT$12,000 per person since November, indicating an average monthly rise of NT$2,400, according to the ministry’s data.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA