The government must be expeditious with its proposed second round of stimulus vouchers to boost domestic demand, Far Eastern Department Stores Ltd (遠東百貨) chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) said yesterday.
“The government has to move fast to give the post-[COVID-19] pandemic economy a boost,” Hsu said at the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei. “As for the amount, while I am sure it has budget considerations, the more the better.”
The Triple Stimulus Vouchers program, launched in July last year, saw Taiwanese and even foreign permanent residents receive NT$3,000 of vouchers in return for putting in NT$1,000.
Photo: CNA
The program, which ended at the end of last year, garnered 99 percent participation, with NT$64.28 billion (US$2.29 billion) of vouchers redeemed by vendors, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed.
Administration of the program, including printing and distribution, cost more than NT$2 billion, and a second round of at least the same size is being planned by the Executive Yuan, the ministry has said.
Vouchers are said to be more effective than cash handouts because they must be spent by an expiration date, giving the economy the maximum boost and preventing funds from going into savings.
National Central University professor Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said that a second round of stimulus vouchers would be welcome and distribution should be timed to coincide with the end of the COVID-19 alert.
The government needs to do more this time, especially for small businesses, as many of them do not have cash on hand, Wu said, adding that the government should extend more loans to small businesses so they can survive until the restrictions end.
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