The government yesterday announced mortgage and student loan subsidies to help ease financial challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Executive Yuan approved a Ministry of the Interior proposal to provide one-off mortgage subsidies of NT$30,000 (US$991) to eligible home buyers, Executive Yuan spokesman Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said.
Home buyers with an annual household income of less than NT$1.2 million who are liable for an original mortgage of up to NT$8.5 million in Taipei, or up to NT$7 million in the rest of the country, can apply for the subsidy, Chen Tseng-yen told reporters following a weekly Cabinet meeting presided over by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).
Photo: CNA
Applications are to open on Feb. 28, the ministry said, adding that about 550,000 households are expected to benefit.
Owners of multiple homes would be excluded, it added.
Housing justice is high on the premier’s agenda, Chen Tsung-yen said, adding that the measure is part of a government effort to help offset fallout from the pandemic on low-income and middle-class households over the past three years, during which interest rates were raised four times.
The subsidy is not meant to encourage people to buy homes or to subsidize luxury homeowners, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said, adding that landlords would not receive the subsidy.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal seeking to grant rent subsidies for economically disadvantaged people, including students aged 18 or older, as part of an annual NT$30 billion program implemented last year.
The number of eligible applicants has increased from 60,000 to 277,000, Lin said.
About 40 percent of subsidy recipients are underprivileged households, while young adults and newly married couples account for 30 percent, Lin added.
Meanwhile, students and recent graduates in need of financial assistance would have one year of student loans forgiven, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said.
The plan is expected to help 546,000 low-income students, recent graduates raising children and recent graduates earning less than NT$40,000 per month on average, Pan said, adding that it would be implemented in July.
About NT$380 billion in financial surplus and special budget funds are to go toward forgiving the loans, including principal and interest, he said.
No application would be necessary, with the forgiven amount deducted directly through issuing banks, Pan added.
The Ministry of Culture also announced NT$1,200 vouchers for young people who have missed out on “coming-of-age” traditions during the pandemic.
Originally intended only for 18-year-olds, the ministry has decided to issue the vouchers to Taiwanese aged 18 to 21, it said, adding that about 900,000 people would benefit.
Teenagers have not been able to hold graduation ceremonies or go on class trips over the three years of the pandemic, the culture ministry said.
The vouchers can be used for visiting exhibitions, performances or screenings of locally made movies, or to buy books, crafts or art, it said.
The plan is one of five programs proposed by the culture ministry to help young adults and revitalize Taiwan’s cultural industries, it said in a news release yesterday.
It also plans to support small bookstores, shops and cultural spaces; promote art classes and cultural experiences on and off campus; bring traditional performance troupes to rural areas; and expand art-related content to enhance cultural self-confidence, it said.
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