Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced on Facebook and Instagram that the city’s debt has dropped below NT$100 billion (US$3.35 billion), marking the highest rate of debt repayment by a local government in Taiwan.
Ko posted on both online platforms, along with a photograph of him sitting at his desk on Friday reading official documents and the quote: “All we did was work hard every day. Do what should be done and avoid what shouldn’t be done, and a lot of money will remain at the end of the year.”
“Today, the Taipei City Government has officially left the NT$100 billion debt club,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
Taipei had NT$146.8 billion in debt when he took office, Ko said, but about NT$52 billion was repaid over the past three-and-a-half years, reducing the debt to about NT$94.8 billion — a reduction per capita from about NT$54,000 to NT$35,000.
The total amount repaid could reach NT$54 billion if city revenue continues to increase this year, he added.
Requests for supplementary funds became rare after Ko required all proposals to be reported to his office, while the amount spent on last year’s Summer Universiade opening and closing ceremonies was about NT$360 million, less than the NT$540 million spent on holding the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, he said.
Enforcing stricter financial discipline has increased efficiency, solved the problem of trying to use up budgets and freed up additional finances for new projects, Ko said, adding that the Taipei Department of Finance told him that repaying NT$52 billion in four years sets a new record among local government heads.
“The changes that we are making now will affect future generations. A responsible government should not leave debt for future generations — this is the belief that the Taipei Government has held on to for four years,” he wrote.
The post in one day gained more than 300,000 likes on Facebook and 40,000 likes on Instagram.
Ko’s claims were over-embellished, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said on Friday, adding that Ko had used money budgeted for important public infrastructure to repay debt, thus hurting the city’s competitiveness.
The city government led by former Taipei mayor Hau Long-bin (郝龍斌) handed over a surplus of about NT$23.1 billion, Ting said.
Taipei residents contributed to the debt repayments, Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) of the Democratic Progressive Party wrote on his Facebook page.
As the law stipulates that city governments must use at least 5 percent of tax revenue to repay debt, Ko is simply confusing the public and claiming the credit, Wang added.
Asked about these responses, Ko yesterday said financial discipline at local governments has been really poor — including the habit of often asking for supplementary funds and trying to use up budgeted funds at the end of the year, practices that should be thoroughly reviewed.
He added that he would ask the Taipei Department of Finance to issue a press release that answers the councilors’ questions.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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