Aiming to boost the economy and lower the unemployment rate, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday unveiled two projects designed to generate 115,000 jobs within the next three years.
In a bid to raise funds for the two projects -- estimated to cost the government more than NT$300 billion -- Yu asked the Legislative Yuan to support the Cabinet's plan to change the law so that the expenses of the two projects could be excluded from calculations of public debt.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
According to the Legislative Yuan's Budget Center, the government's accumulated outstanding debts will increase to NT$2.9 trillion by the end of this year. The total outstanding debts will reach an estimated NT$3.4 trillion by the end of next year, accounting for 33.6 percent of GNP.
Accompanied by Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (
"Our goal is to see the jobless rate fall to 4.5 percent and the rate of economic growth reach 3.52 percent by the end of next year," Yu said.
According to Yu, the government plans to generate 75,000 jobs with a one-year public service project estimated to cost NT$20 billion, and 40,000 more jobs with a three-year, NT$300 billion public construction project, estimated to cost NT$50 billion in its first year.
To raise funds for the two projects, Yu said that the Cabinet is planning a new law designed to exclude the expenses of the two projects from calculations of the public debt.
According to the Public Debt Law (
The Cabinet has failed to push for the passage of draft amendments to the law, which would lower the cap on public debt from 15 percent to 12 percent but would exclude new bonds issued to pay off outstanding debt on the government's balance sheet.
If the draft is approved by the legislature, it is estimated that the government would be able to issue another NT$65 billion in public debt annually.
The two projects announced by Yu yesterday came after President Chen Shui-bian (
The measures include reducing the unemployment rate from 5.32 percent to 4.5 percent within a year, creating 70,000 part-time jobs in the public sector and allocating NT$1.2 trillion each year for the next five years to domestic investment projects.
Chen also called on the legislature to amend the Public Debt Law to exclude financing public infrastructure from calculations of government debt.
To counter the lack of confidence in the economy, Chen requested the government assist in the realization of private investment projects and lift restrictions on foreign investment.
The government would also try to attract multinational corporations to establish their headquarters in Taiwan.
The Cabinet would also organize events to attract international investors in the first half of next year.
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