The two proposed special budgets continued to be the focus of legislative discussions yesterday with the opposition parties rejecting a compromise agreed on by the speaker and his Cabinet counterpart.
Four legislative committees, however, gave their initial approval to the proposal to expand government construction without saying whether the Cabinet would be able to fund the program with extraordinary funds.
They attached slight modifications stating that only domestic workers can take part in public works intended to boost the economy by 0.38 percent this year and create 40,000 jobs.
Cabinet Spokesman Chuang Shuo-han (
Together, the two projects are expected to create 115,000 one-year job opportunities for unemployed people aged between 35 and 65 at a cost of NT$70 billion.
Both the KMT and PFP legislative caucuses insisted the Cabinet seek funding for the provisional measures through regular budgetary procedures.
On Tuesday, Premier Yu Shyi-kun struck a tentative pact with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
In return, the legislature would give its go-ahead for the requested NT$50 billion special budget for the public construction project as part of an effort to boost the economy.
The arrangement means the Cabinet would have to wait until the next legislative session to request the funding for the public-service program, estimated at NT$20 billion.
Wang said the compromise emerged as a pragmatic solution to end the stalemate between the ruling and opposition camps over the issue.
"Opposition parties should look beyond the superficial figures when dealing with the matter," he said before hosting a cross-party talk yesterday. "It is more advisable to try to understand the financial difficulties the Cabinet faces and seek to help," Wang said.
Unconvinced, the two opposition parties withheld their consent, saying all NT$70 billion must be listed in supplementary budgets to keep public debt under control.
KMT legislative whip Lee Chuan-chia (
The Cabinet wants the measures paid for with extraordinary budgets, which would exempt them from legal limits on the amount of money the government can borrow.
Under public debt rules, the government can borrow up to 15 percent of its annual budget for various spending programs. Currently, the deficit makes up 14.5 percent of this year's budget.
Lee said the KMT caucus agreed to put the issue to a vote if cross-party talks fail to hammer out a consensus before the end of the session, which will likely be extended to Jan. 17.
PFP legislative whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
The Cabinet wants to implement the job-creation program before the Lunar New Year by using money earmarked for other purposes and plans to request additional budgets later this year.
"I believe the Cabinet can find the money to expand public construction if it is willing to do so," Liu said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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