The government currently has no plans of issuing a second round of consumer vouchers, but will look into the possibility when it conducts an overall assessment of the impact of the first round of consumer vouchers by September, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday.
The council said the government might not issue a new round of vouchers because of financial constraints, but added that if it did eventually return to the idea, a decision would not be made before the end of September, the deadline for the use of the first round of vouchers.
“If domestic business conditions rebound in the fall, the government won't need to issue consumer vouchers again,” the council said in a statement.
The council said it had commissioned an institute to carry out a survey of the shopping vouchers' overall effect on the local economy during the first quarter of this year. The results of the survey will be made public later this month and will serve as policy reference for the government.
In related news, Chunghwa Post Co said that 134,974 people, or 0.58 percent of qualified recipients, failed to pick up their consumer vouchers by the April 30 deadline.
A total of 99.42 percent of eligible participants picked up their vouchers in the two-stage distribution process — at designated pick-up points during the first stage and at post offices during the second stage — the state-run company said.
Less than NT$500 million (US$15 million) in consumer vouchers, out of a total of NT$83.75 billion, were not picked up.
The unclaimed vouchers will be sent back to the Ministry of the Interior, which will be responsible for destroying them after May 12, a Chunghwa Post executive said.
Ministry figures showed that as of Wednesday, nearly NT$67.4 billion, or 81 percent of the total vouchers issued, had been cashed in by businesses.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
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