Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced on Facebook and Instagram that the city’s debt has dropped below NT$100 billion (US$3.35 billion), marking the highest rate of debt repayment by a local government in Taiwan.
Ko posted on both online platforms, along with a photograph of him sitting at his desk on Friday reading official documents and the quote: “All we did was work hard every day. Do what should be done and avoid what shouldn’t be done, and a lot of money will remain at the end of the year.”
“Today, the Taipei City Government has officially left the NT$100 billion debt club,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
Taipei had NT$146.8 billion in debt when he took office, Ko said, but about NT$52 billion was repaid over the past three-and-a-half years, reducing the debt to about NT$94.8 billion — a reduction per capita from about NT$54,000 to NT$35,000.
The total amount repaid could reach NT$54 billion if city revenue continues to increase this year, he added.
Requests for supplementary funds became rare after Ko required all proposals to be reported to his office, while the amount spent on last year’s Summer Universiade opening and closing ceremonies was about NT$360 million, less than the NT$540 million spent on holding the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, he said.
Enforcing stricter financial discipline has increased efficiency, solved the problem of trying to use up budgets and freed up additional finances for new projects, Ko said, adding that the Taipei Department of Finance told him that repaying NT$52 billion in four years sets a new record among local government heads.
“The changes that we are making now will affect future generations. A responsible government should not leave debt for future generations — this is the belief that the Taipei Government has held on to for four years,” he wrote.
The post in one day gained more than 300,000 likes on Facebook and 40,000 likes on Instagram.
Ko’s claims were over-embellished, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said on Friday, adding that Ko had used money budgeted for important public infrastructure to repay debt, thus hurting the city’s competitiveness.
The city government led by former Taipei mayor Hau Long-bin (郝龍斌) handed over a surplus of about NT$23.1 billion, Ting said.
Taipei residents contributed to the debt repayments, Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) of the Democratic Progressive Party wrote on his Facebook page.
As the law stipulates that city governments must use at least 5 percent of tax revenue to repay debt, Ko is simply confusing the public and claiming the credit, Wang added.
Asked about these responses, Ko yesterday said financial discipline at local governments has been really poor — including the habit of often asking for supplementary funds and trying to use up budgeted funds at the end of the year, practices that should be thoroughly reviewed.
He added that he would ask the Taipei Department of Finance to issue a press release that answers the councilors’ questions.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS