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
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a