An Executive Yuan official yesterday urged the legislature to review the budget for fiscal year 2025 as soon as possible, as it involves funds for cancer drugs, submarine construction, salary increases and other important measures.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party caucuses on Friday last week sent the proposed budget to the Procedure Committee, which yesterday excluded it from its legislative agenda for this week and on Tuesday next week.
However, the budget includes important items such as funds for cancer drugs and construction of indigenous submarines, a 3 percent salary increase for military, public and education personnel, and flood planning for local governments after Typhoon Gaemi, the official who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Photo: CNA
The official added that NT$120 billion (US$3.75 billion) of the budget is dedicated to subsidizing the Labor Insurance Fund.
Taiwan Power Co could run at a deficit or even face closure next year, as NT$100 billion of its budget would “vanish” if the central government budget does not pass, the official said.
No new programs proposed this year would be realized without a budget, and the first, secondary and disaster reserve funds could not be used, the official added.
The situation might escalate into a virtual no-confidence motion if the budget is sent back to the Cabinet, as it means the legislature does not trust the Executive Yuan, the official said.
The Cabinet expects the budget to be fully discussed and reviewed by the committee, and would continue to communicate with the legislature, the person added.
Separately yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) told a news conference that KMT legislators were taking matters out of context by comparing the current situation to the DPP’s proposal to send back the budget in 2008.
The case in 2008 served as a warning against overestimating economic growth amid a financial crisis, she said.
The DPP caucus “could not and would not” have sent back the budget in 2008, as the party was a minority with only 27 seats in the legislature, she said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said that economic growth in 2008 was expected to be as high as 5.08 percent, but actually slid 1.61 percent.
The DPP proposed returning the budget simply to emphasize the financial problem, and in the end it did not send the budget back to the Procedure Committee, Tsai added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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