September's massive earthquake is likely to drive up Taiwan's budget deficit for 2000 by NT$73 billion to a new high of NT$327.9 billion (US$10.3 billion), local newspapers said yesterday. The deficit will run to 14.6 percent of the budget from the 11.4 percent originally estimated.
The NT$73 billion figure included reduced government income due to the earthquake of NT$31.9 billion and tax income reduction of NT$38.3 billion from a recent business tax cut on banks, among other measures, the papers quoted the cabinet's Council for Economic Planning and Development as saying. The budget deficit would be a new record high for Taiwan, the top economic policy making body was quoted as saying.
In May, Taiwan's parliament adopted a NT$2.234 trillion budget for 2000, which runs 18 months from July 1999 to Dec. 2000 to harmonize Taiwan's July-to-June fiscal year with the calendar year. The budget aimed the island's resources at social welfare and combating Asia's recession at the expense of defense spending.
But then the earthquake on Sept. 21, toppled or damaged 51,000 buildings and made 82,238 homes uninhabitable. Official estimates put the cost of the quake at NT$292 billion, including actual physical damage and productivity losses due to quake-related power outages.
In July, Taiwan cut financial institutions' business tax to 2 percent from 5 percent, in a move to enable banks to write off more bad loans.
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