A stimulus voucher program and coupon packages introduced by the Executive Yuan and other government agencies to bolster the economy have nearly tripled business revenue, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Ministry officials presented the figures in a report to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at a weekly meeting of the Executive Yuan.
Su was told that the NT$65.055 billion (US$2.25 billion) spent for the Executive Yuan to issue the Triple Stimulus Vouchers and for agencies to issue coupons generated an estimated NT$179 billion in business revenue, boosting the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: David Chang, EPA-EFE
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Council of Agriculture, the Sports Administration, the Ministry of Culture and the Hakka Affairs Council issued their own coupons.
To boost consumer spending, people were encouraged to buy NT$3,000 of vouchers for NT$1,000.
Regardless of age or income level, all 23 million Taiwanese, as well as 150,000 foreign and Chinese spouses holding residency permits, were eligible to purchase paper or electronic vouchers.
As of Tuesday, 22.89 million people had bought the vouchers, or 96 percent of those eligible, Small and Medium Enterprise Administration Director-General Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) told reporters after the meeting.
About 21.09 million people selected the paper stimulus vouchers, while 1.8 million chose electronic vouchers, with only 910,000 people still needing to collect their stimulus vouchers, Ho said.
The buying spree triggered by the vouchers has been reflected in business revenue and government tax income, as seen by the growth in July retail sales, ending a five-month contraction, he said.
Taiwan’s retail sales in August and last month set historical single-month highs, as did the restaurant and beverage sector last month, Ho added.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia