Permanent foreign residents would also be eligible to receive NT$10,000 (US$327) cash handouts, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters at an event in Taipei, Cho said the Cabinet plans to submit a special budget proposal next week for legislative approval to unlock funding authorized under a recently amended special act that includes cash handouts.
The special act is intended to bolster Taiwan’s security infrastructure, and to provide relief to businesses and people expected to be directly or indirectly affected by US tariffs on Taiwanese exports.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
The amendment to the special act, which raises the funding cap to NT$570 billion, was adopted by the legislature at the end of last month.
The premier said he looked forward to seeing swift passage of the special budget bill once the legislature’s new session begins later this month.
To ensure broad coverage, the Cabinet would follow past practices by “extending eligibility to permanent foreign residents,” he said, without providing further details.
However, a Cabinet official said that the government had yet to decide whether the upcoming cash handouts would follow the same eligibility rules as previous distributions.
In 2023, the government allowed not only permanent residents, but also foreign residents with Taiwanese spouses, as well as foreign diplomats and their spouses, to receive NT$6,000 cash handouts.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
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