The Executive Yuan yesterday approved an additional NT$100 billion (US$3.08 billion) for the fiscal 2024 budget to subsidize Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) for sustaining severe losses in complying with government policies.
The proposal has been forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for ratification.
Without subsidies or increasing prices, Taipower would stand to lose NT$210 billion this year, Taipower vice president Wang Jenn-yeong (王振勇) said.
Photo: Taipei Times
However, the rate hike that went into effect on April 1, the Executive Yuan’s subsidy and falling fuel prices mean the company can reduce its losses to just NT$10 billion, Wang added.
The price adjustment saw a 3 to 5 percent increase for most households and an increase of up to 25 percent for consumers of 500 gigawatt-hours or more per month.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said that if the additional funding is approved, fiscal 2024 would see total expenditure of NT$2.95 trillion, while expected income stands at NT$2.72 trillion.
The government would have to pay NT$11.5 billion in debt in addition to the NT$22.67 billion deficit for a NT$34.17 billion loss, the DGBAS said.
The government plans to raise NT$25.71 billion by issuing bonds and also dip into the fiscal 2022 surplus to compensate for the deficit, it added.
In response to the legislature earlier this week passing a non-binding motion to freeze electricity prices, Executive Yuan spokesman Lin Tzu-lun (林子倫) quoted Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) as saying that the legislative and executive branches should observe their respective boundaries.
Chen said the price hike resulted from discussions observing Article 49 of the Electricity Act (電業法) and the government is legally bound to implement the results of such talks.
Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan yesterday also approved a bill that would offer a NT$75,000 Lunar New Year bonus for borough and village wardens.
The elected positions currently do not receive a salary or annual bonus, but are offered a NT$50,000 monthly subsidy from their governing municipality.
The amendment to the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Borough and Village Wardens (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例) would mean an additional NT$580 million allocated for the elected offices, the Ministry of the Interior said.
In addition, the amendment would raise subsidies for city and county councilors to hire assistants to NT$300,000 from NT$240,000 per month for city councilors and to NT$140,000 from NT$80,000 per month for county councilors.
It would also limit the number of assistants councilors can hire, with city councilors having at most seven and county councilors having at most three.
Monthly service payouts to village and borough wardens in indigenous areas would also be raised to NT$55,000 from NT$50,000.
Speaking to legislators in the morning, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said there were no political or personal considerations to the amendments.
Since the duties of village and borough wardens have changed to approaching a full-time job and opinions differed greatly on the compensation, the Executive Yuan decided that the Lunar New Year bonus was the most “balanced” method.
Lin emphasized that the bonus counts as a “gratuity,” not a salary.
If the amendment clears all legislative hurdles, it could be distributed next year, he said.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsi
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