In yet another turnabout, the KMT legislative caucus yesterday passed a resolution that would bar the government from borrowing more money to finance its NT$50-billion public-construction package.
The DPP caucus expressed deep regret at the opposition move, which it said would stall, if not devastate, review of the supplemental budget needed for the pro-ject to go ahead.
The 66-member KMT caucus concluded after an afternoon meeting that the Cabinet can find extra money for the economic stimulus measure, if it is able to do so for the NT$20-billion public service program.
The two one-year packages, referred to as job-creation legislation, are designed to raise GDP 0.38 percent and bring the unemployment rate down 0.5 percent by the end of this year.
KMT legislative leader Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) said that his caucus shares the desire to rejuvenate the economy and tame unemployment, but disagreed with pursuing this goal by increasing the public debt.
Liu insisted that the Cabinet is able to pay for the economic plan, which consists of 100 small public projects, without violating debt rules which stipulate that the government can borrow no more than 15 percent of its fiscal spending.
During his recent trip to the legislature, Director-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Liu San-chi (劉三錡) reiterated that the Cabinet cannot squeeze any more money from its budgets, noting that the deficit for this year already stands at 14.8 percent of spending.
But the opposition parties remain skeptical, saying that the Cabinet originally wanted both job-creation measures paid for with extraordinary budgets by issuing NT$70-billion in bonds -- despite the debt-ceiling.
"Bowing to opposition pres-sure, the DPP administration now says it needs only NT$23 billion," Liu Cheng-hung said.
"In light of the facts, we believe the government's finances are not as difficult as officials have said."
The public-service bill, which enables the government to hire 80,000 jobless people at a monthly wage of NT$20,000, has cleared the legislature.
The KMT resolution yesterday also proposed replacing the Council for Economic Planning and Development with the Public Works Commission as the regulatory agency for the economic measures.
Liu Cheng-hung said the proposed change is intended to make bidding for the 100 construction projects more transparent.
The PFP caucus signaled that it would support its ally's decision. PFP legislative leader Chung Shao-ho (
DPP legislative whip Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) expressed frustration, noting that proposal was the 10th opposition attempt in three months to deny the government the money needed to lift the economy.
"It seems to me the opposition parties have no intention to honor an earlier cross-party agreement and pass the supplemental budget as soon as possible," he said. "That explains why they keep altering the bill. Though small, many of the proposed projects are urgent."
Chen said the government may be forced to forgo the plan if the opposition refuses to exempt it from the debt limits, but he said the Cabinet will not give up negotiating.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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