The Cabinet yesterday approved next year’s budget, with spending projected to reach NT$1.998 trillion (US$63.61 billion) and income forecast to reach NT$1.845 trillion, leaving an estimated budget deficit of NT$153 billion.
The Ministry of Education is to receive NT$285.3 billion, the largest budget allocation and NT$18 billion more than it received this year.
The education budget includes a special allocation of NT$525 million to fund teenage education and childhood development.
Photo: CNA
NT$106.2 billion has been allocated to fund the development of science and technology, while another NT$186.9 billion is to be used to fund public infrastructure projects.
The Ministry of Culture’s budget is to grow 15 percent to NT$31.4 billion, the largest growth rate among government agencies.
The Cabinet allocated NT$32.5 billion to the “five innovative industries” that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pledged during her election campaign to develop, including NT$11.2 billion for the “Asian Silicon Valley,” NT$10.2 billion for biotechnology, NT$5 billion for “green” energy, NT$4.5 billion for “smart” machinery and NT$1.6 billion for the defense industry.
The budget for social welfare is to grow by 167 percent to NT$17.8 billion, 77 percent of which is to be used for long-term care services.
The defense budget is to grow 0.5 percent to NT$321.7 billion, falling far short of the NT$400 billion requested by Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬).
“Although the US wants the nation to increase military expenditure to 3 percent of GDP, it cannot be achieved for the time being,” Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said.
Next year’s military budget would be sufficient to purchase necessary weapons and special budget requests can be made to the Cabinet when procurement opportunities emerge, Lin said.
Total government spending is set to grow by 1.1 percent from this year, but questions were raised as to whether that would be enough to boost the economy.
Lin said that the Cabinet had only been in office for three months and could not devise a new stimulus plan, so it made minor changes to existing plans.
“The government does not plan to boost the economy by increasing public spending,” he said. “An increase in private investment is the key to stimulating the economy. The Cabinet plans to deregulate investment and reduce investment uncertainties such as the environmental review system.”
Many of the government’s multi-year investment plans in state-run businesses end this year, and government income in the following years might decline.
“We are concerned about the projected decline in income, and we have examined renewing and increasing the investment plans in state-run businesses,” Lin said.
Next year’s budget deficit of NT$153 billion is 0.8 percent lower than this year’s deficit.
The nation’s outstanding debt is estimated to grow to NT$5.617 trillion, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 33.9 percent, slightly down from this year’s 34.1 percent.
“The nation is maintaining a stable fiscal environment and moving toward reducing deficits, but there is no significant budget change expected,” Lin said.
The budget will now go to the Legislative Yuan for review and final approval.
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