The Executive Yuan yesterday agreed to redirect money from other sources to fund the NT$20 billion public service program while using an auxiliary budget to fund the NT$50 billion public works program.
The legislature will conduct cross-party negotiations today to decide whether to approve the proposal. The legislative body yesterday also decided to extend the legislative session to pass the two bills.
In an attempt to find the funding for the two job-creation programs, legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
To give the Cabinet more room to find the money, Wang said that the legislature will specify in the bill dealing with public service that the NT$20 billion budget is not bound by the budget law.
"The legislature is happy to help the executive body solve the problem because because we're in favor of any bill designed to lower the jobless rate and boost the economy," Wang said.
Yu said that the Cabinet is more than willing to study whether to find more money to fund the NT$20 billion bill.
"It doesn't matter what the budget is called, as long as the legislature finally approves it," he said.
The legislature on Monday conditionally approved the first review of one of two job-creation bills, which covers a public service program, leaving the funding of the program to be decided via cross-party negotiations.
The legislative body is scheduled to review the other bill, which deals with public works, today.
The Executive Yuan on Dec. 18 approved the NT$70 billion projects, aiming to create a total of 115,000 jobs, drive the economic growth rate up to 3.52 percent this year and lower the unemployment rate to below 4.5 percent.
The Cabinet wants the measures paid for with "special" budgets, which would exempt it from legal limits on the amount of money the government can borrow.
Opposition parties, however, preferred to amend the public debt law to raise the debt limit or to redirect money from other sources.
Earlier in the day, Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) came out in defense of the state treasurer after the KMT called him a liar and demanded he resign.
"Serving at the budget and statistics department for about 30 years, he's a reliable professional and is depended upon by the premier," Liu said. "There's definitely room for discussion if there's any misunderstanding between the executive and legislative branches."
At a press conference at the legislature yesterday morning, KMT legislative whip Lee Chuan-chia (李全教) accused Liu San-chi (劉三錡), the deputy head of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, of lying about the financial situation of state funds and said that he should step down.
According to Lee, the government does not need to raise money for the two programs with special budgets because it has over NT$200 billion at its disposal.
Liu San-chi, however, said that the money has not yet come in to state coffers.
Chairwoman of the Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (陳菊) said that it is important for the legislature to pass the two bills during the current legislative session.
"The unemployed expect a lot from the two programs. Since the unemployment hot line was opened on Dec. 27, some 67,000 people have called to sign up and 52,000 are qualified," she said.
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