Six local governments might be forced to borrow due to a funding shortfall of NT$299.2 billion (US$9.48 billion) due to opposition lawmakers blocking this year’s budget, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
This year marks the first time in constitutional history that January has started without the legislature referring the general budget to committee for review, Cho told a news conference after the first Cabinet meeting of the year.
Lawmakers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party have said they would not approve the proposal until the Cabinet allocates funds for salary increases for active-duty military personnel, and pension increases for public-school teachers and civil servants.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Although the legislature passed amendments last year making such raises mandatory, the Democratic Progressive Party government has requested constitutional interpretations, which are still pending.
It has been more than four months since the Executive Yuan submitted this year’s general budget to the legislature, but it has yet to be reviewed, Cho said.
The delay would affect NT$299.2 billion of budget allocations, disrupting the fiscal operations of six local governments — Tainan, as well as Changhua, Chiayi, Lienchiang (Matsu), Penghu and Pingtung counties — which could face fiscal management difficulties, forcing them to borrow, Cho said.
The fiscal allocation formula unfairly disadvantages regions that rely heavily on agriculture, as well as outlying counties with smaller populations and lower business turnover, leaving them with less in tax revenue allocations, he said.
The central government had earmarked NT$32.1 billion in the general budget for this year to ensure that shared tax revenues and subsidies would be no lower than last year, he said.
Among the blocked funds are NT$101.7 billion for new initiatives, NT$180.5 billion to cover recurring costs and ongoing projects exceeding last year’s budget, and NT$17 billion for first and second reserve funds, as well as disaster preparedness, which would affect national security, flood control plans and local governments subsidies, he said.
The Ministry of National Defense would face the greatest funding shortfall of NT$75.2 billion, Cho said.
Yesterday’s meeting was intended to discuss implementation of new policies and programs, but the Cabinet was instead forced to report on the blocked budget, he said.
The general budget is the foundation of democratic governance and essential to meeting public needs, Cho said, calling on the legislature to expedite the review.
The stalled budget would negatively affect economic growth, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) said.
Although the economy is expected to grow, the extent would be dampened by the stalled budget, Chen said.
The economy is estimated to shrink by 0.05 percent for every NT$10 billion cut to government spending on procurements and investments, and 0.03 percent for every cut of the same amount to government spending on operational expenses, she said.
KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on Monday told reporters that repeated calls to review the budget were “missing the point.”
The Cabinet should first earmark salary raises for military personnel in its budget proposal in accordance with legislation and refrain from creating unnecessary social division, Cheng said.
Separately yesterday, the DPP published a poll showing that 56.3 percent of respondents disapproved of the legislature’s performance, 2.5 times more than those who approved.
The survey also showed that 66.9 percent believed lawmakers should prioritize passing the budget instead of impeaching President William Lai (賴清德), DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei.
Sixty-three percent worried that killing the resiliency special budget would make the nation vulnerable to natural disasters, while more than 60 percent expressed concern that water management infrastructure construction would be delayed, he said.
About 58.8 percent voiced worry over the lack of public subsidies for childcare and 52.2 percent reported concern about the impact of canceling the TPass policy, he said.
The survey was conducted on Monday and Tuesday last week. It garnered 1,043 valid responses, had a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of 3 percent.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua and Chen Cheng-yu
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS