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Cabinet considers raising elderly farmers' allowance

The Executive Yuan is assessing the possibility of raising the welfare allowance for elderly farmers, Cabinet Spokesperson Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said yesterday.

"Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has asked Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Yu-shan (劉玉山) to conduct an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the policy," Chen said.

The move by the Cabinet came in the wake of a pledge by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking the KMT's presidential nomination, that he would raise the monthly allowance for elderly farmers from NT$5,000 to NT$6,000 if elected next year.

Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who is vying with Su for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential nomination, said in a recent statement that he had already lifted the allowance from NT$4,000 to NT$5,000 during his term as premier.

Chen said that the possibility of increasing the allowance to NT$6,000 per month would be discussed with officials from the Ministry of Finance, Council of Agriculture, Ministry of the Interior and the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The allowance is granted to farmers above the age of 65, and about 701,000 farmers around the country are eligible to collect the premium each month.

According to DGBAS figures, the government has earmarked NT$42 billion (US$1.27 billion) for the allowance in this year's governmental budget, and it is estimated that increasing the allowance to NT$6,000 would cost the government an extra NT$8 billion per year.

DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅), a member of the Hsieh camp, said yesterday that Su had not come up with the idea of raising the allowance.

"We have in the past discussed this issue with the party caucus as well as the legislature's Economics and Energy Committee," Lee said.
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