The Executive Yuan yesterday called on the Legislative Yuan to swiftly approve a budget plan for a 3 percent pay raise for government employees, public-school teachers and military personnel, adding that delays in passing the proposal would affect about 1 million people.
The Cabinet in September announced that public-sector employees and those working in state-run businesses are to receive a pay raise next year after a freeze of more than six years, adding that it hopes the plan would stimulate a similar move in the private sector to boost the economy.
Senior Executive Yuan officials, who declined to be named, yesterday called on the legislature to swiftly pass the third reading of the proposal so that the executive branch can implement the salary increase on Jan. 1 as scheduled.
Despite the legislative session’s close being scheduled for the end of this month, the legislature has avoided scheduling negotiations over the proposed salary hike, reportedly out of concern that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus would boycott the negotiations.
The officials expressed concern that the salary increase might be delayed until February after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus passes a motion to hold an extraordinary session next month.
While the number of active military personnel is confidential, delays in approving the proposal is estimated to affect about 1 million people, including 580,000 public-school teachers and 300,000 veterans.
The salary increase would require NT$24 billion (US$799.25 million), with the Executive Yuan and local governments contributing NT$18 billion and NT$6 billion respectively.
The Executive Yuan has earmarked NT$3.8 billion from the NT$18 billion budget to subsidize 14 local governments that are short of capital so that they can afford to pay the salary increase.
No subsidies have been planned for the more affluent six special municipalities, Hsinchu City or Kinmen County.
Since the salary hike is considered as one-time spending, it has been listed as a new project, meaning that no funds related to the salary increase should be drawn before a budget request is passed by lawmakers.
A source familiar with the issue said that despite a potential delay in passing the proposal, civil servants, public-school teachers and soldiers are to receive their proposed monthly salaries on time.
No funds should be drawn before the legislature approves the proposed salary hike, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) said, while expressing the hope that lawmakers will soon approve the budget proposal.
Even though civil servants, teachers and soldiers might have to wait until February for the raise, they are to be reimbursed the salary increase due to them in January after the budget passes, Chu said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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