President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday promised to unveil more measures to deal with the financial crisis after the Lunar New Year holiday, adding that he expected the nation’s economy to improve this year.
“Taiwan cannot escape the global financial crisis because we depend largely on exports. However, the government will try to turn things around and improve the economy this year,” Ma said during a visit to Taichung City.
Ma said the government would put special emphasis on presenting long-term economic measures, adding that it would also assess whether to issue more consumer vouchers this year.
About 92 percent of the 23.19 million people eligible received the NT$3,600 vouchers on Jan. 18. The government spent NT$85.7 billion (US$2.55 billion) on the voucher program in a bid to rekindle the sagging economy.
Ma said the government would work to provide assistance to local governments in pushing for urban renewal projects and seek to boost local business opportunities, adding that new measures should be announced soon, as Cabinet members spent the Lunar New Year holiday mapping out solutions aimed at curbing the nation’s soaring unemployment rate.
The nation’s unemployment rate rose to 5.03 percent in December, meaning that more than 549,000 people were out of work — the highest level since October 2003. It also marked the first time in five years that the monthly unemployment rate topped 5 percent, a recent report released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showed.
Accompanied by Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), Ma yesterday visited major temples in the city and handed out red envelopes as the Lunar New Year holiday came to an end.
Ma praised the Taichung City Government for its drive to encourage residents to use their vouchers by holding a lucky draw event, in which the No. 1 prize was a house.
He later paid a closed-door visit to senior presidential adviser Lin Yang-kang (林洋港) and attended the opening ceremony of Kaohsiung City’s Lantern Festival last night. Ma joined Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) to light up the main lantern at the Kaohsiung Honorary Pier.
The festival runs until Feb. 15.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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