Stimulus coupons valued at NT$3,000 (US$99.85) are to be handed out, but would require proof of purchases totaling NT$1,000, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The plan is intended to help small stores and businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) told a news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting, adding that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is to unveil details at a news conference on Tuesday next week.
Most businesses affected by the pandemic are small stores and the Executive Yuan wants to help them, Ting said.
Every Republic of China citizen is to receive a NT$3,000 coupon after spending NT$1,000, he said.
The coupons can be obtained by presenting receipts from in-store purchases, electronic payments, electronic ticketing or credit cards, he said.
With other government agencies announcing their own stimulus packages, digital platforms stand to benefit, as Taiwanese are accustomed to spending online, Ting said.
The aggregate effect of the Executive Yuan’s package might exceed the amount invested, as 1.2 million disadvantaged families would be eligible to receive the coupons without providing receipts.
National Development Council Deputy Minister Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂) said there was no simple answer to how the coupons would affect GDP.
The NT$40 billion budget for the coupons was calculated by multiplying NT$2,000 by 20 million people, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said.
How this affects GDP would depend on capital turnover and stimulus policies, Tseng said.
“You need to implement a policy to derive reliable data,” Cheng said.
The government would adjust the system once the coupons are released, but they would have a noticeable effect on the economy, Cheng said.
The Executive Yuan is aware of potential privacy concerns if coupon distribution is implemented in a similar way to masks, so privacy would be a priority, Ting said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary