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.
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