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.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS