In an effort to avoid a possible showdown in the Legislative Yuan and a vote of no confidence against the Executive Yuan, a Cabinet official yesterday hinted that the ceiling for public debt could be lowered from 15 percent of the government's annual budget to 12 percent.
The quota is a compromise between 10 percent, proposed by KMT lawmakers, and the Executive Yuan's original proposal to maintain the current 15 percent.
Liu San-chi (
The quota for public debt, following the EU standard, should refer to the debts incurred to cover the deficit of the current fiscal year and does not include those incurred to pay off old debts, Liu added.
Revisions to the Public Debt Law (公共債務法), which were originally proposed to cope with the changes following the marginalization of the Taiwan Provincial Government and a 1998 revision to the Budget Law (預算法), have recently become a bone of contention between the DPP and KMT.
Under a proposal submitted by the administrative branch to the legislature in January, during the office of former Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), the annual quota for public debt would specifically apply to debts incurred to cover the deficit of the current fiscal year, on the grounds that the Budget Law no longer considers debts part of the government's revenue or debt repayment part of its spending.
KMT lawmakers led by Eric Chu (
According to the KMT's version, the annual quota for public debt would not only apply to debts incurred to cover deficit, but also those incurred to repay old debts. Also, the quota would be lowered from 15 percent of the government's annual budget, to 10 percent.
"Lowering the debt ratio is an international trend and is a measure taken for the sake of the nation's sustainable development," Chu said.
Chu, however, said the KMT would not insist on lowering the quota as long as the government promises transparency.
Official statistics show that the nation's accumulated public debt stood at NT$2.6 trillion as of April 1999, and the number does not include debt incurred by the Central Bank to adjust and stabilize the financial market, which has totaled NT$1.5 trillion.
As the KMT's proposal was raised only after the new government was formed, DPP lawmakers have accused the KMT of attempting to hamper the operation of the new government. They have even threatened to launch a vote of no-confidence to force the KMT to a showdown, if the KMT insists on continuing its antagonism against the new government.
Vice Finance Minister Sam Wang (王得山) explained to lawmakers that the government would face problems dealing with its deficit if the KMT proposal was adopted.
Wang said based on the government's budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which totals NT$1.58 trillion, the quota for public debt would be some NT$200 billion.
However, since the debt repayment the government needs to make in the next fiscal year is already estimated at some NT$200 billion, there would be no room to incur more debts to cover the deficit, Wang said.
The lawmakers yesterday decided to resolve their differences via negotiations before the bill is submitted for its second reading.
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS