Central government expenditures for the next fiscal year will be NT$1.78 trillion (US$57.7 billion), Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told the legislature yesterday, adding that the government would take out loans of NT$225 billion to fund the general budget.
Wu said the budget was 4.4 percent bigger than this year’s.
Describing the budget proposal as a “balanced budget plan that will both ensure the stability of the nation’s finances and the government’s administrative plans,” Wu said the increase was planned alongside an expected 5.7 percent rise in tax revenue next year.
The budget proposal includes NT$18 billion earmarked for flood prevention — a direct response to Typhoon Morakot last year. Along with the special budget request, NT$104 billion would be spent on flood prevention next year, Wu said. That is 17.4 percent more than was allocated in this year’s budget.
The government has also requested NT$28.2 billion for cultural expenditure to cover the Republic of China’s centennial celebrations, Wu said, adding that the cultural budget was 8.6 percent more than requested this year.
The amount of money spent on promoting cross-strait exchanges will grow 0.9 percent to NT$2 billion, Wu said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) told the legislature that the national debt was expected to hit NT$4.96 trillion as of the end of next year.
The government has listed a budget of NT$66 billion to repay some of the national debt next year, more than the minimum debt repayment requirement, which is estimated at NT$57.6 billion, Lee said.
The move shows “the government’s determination to reduce the size of the state debt,” Lee said.
The minimum debt payment requirement is based on the criteria of 5 percent of the annual tax revenues paid to the government, which is estimated at NT$1.16 trillion for next year. The NT$66 billion will all be used to repay the debt principal.
Lee said that in the proposed budget, government borrowing has been limited to a total of NT$225 billion to fund the general budget, less than the liability ceiling of NT$268.4 billion.
Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said the council has proposed a special budget for public construction projects of NT$159.74 billion. The projects are expected to increase GDP next year by 0.88 percent and create between 51,000 and 64,000 jobs, she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique