Taiwan Brain Trust yesterday accused the government of manipulating economic figures to deceive the public, saying that the state of the nation’s economy was not as good as it claimed.
“The impressive numbers released by the government cannot hide the fact that Taiwan is still in a difficult economic situation,” former vice premier Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), who is chairman of the think tank, told an economic forum.
Referring to last year’s ostensibly impressive economic growth of 9.98 percent, Wu said it was important to keep in mind that this comes from a low comparison base the previous year, when the economy contracted by 2.5 percent.
Although the unemployment rate has dropped from a peak of 6.13 percent to 4.73 percent in November, this does not include an estimated 150,000 unemployed people who are not actively looking for a job, he said.
The administration also boasts that salary levels have increased, but 3.6 million workers still have a monthly salary of less than NT$30,000, Wu said.
Government officials say the nation’s finances are healthy, but they do not appear to be telling the truth, he said.
Last year, public debt — not including potential debt and short-term government deficits — represented 32.9 percent of GDP, he said.
“If you include then, Taiwan’s public debt has reached 147 percent [of GDP], which is not healthy at all,” he said.
Chen Jinji (陳錦稷), a research fellow at Taiwan Brain Trust, said the nation’s financial situation remained in dire straits, adding that the Control Yuan had reprimanded the Ministry of Finance for underestimating the magnitude of public debt and ordered better regulations on government budgets.
Every time the administration borrows money for special budgets, the amount is not included in calculating public debt, he said.
“The administration should tackle this deficit with courage and map out a medium and long-term policy to deal with it,” he said.
Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) said that while it was understandable that a government would massage numbers to create a sense of optimism, it was unforgivable for a government to set policies based on erroneous figures.
“Statistics do not lie, but a liar knows how to manipulate statistics,” he said. “I hope the administration will admit its mistakes and that the public will not fall into the trap set by the government.”
He said his calculations, which were based on official data, showed the administration had overestimated the national income by NT$1.14 trillion (US$39.18 billion) and that such growth was generated at the cost of debt and deficits.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS