A 37 percent reduction to all other government projects would be necessary if a controversial budget allocation amendment goes into effect and the defense budget remains unchanged, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) said today.
The legislature on Dec. 20 passed the third reading of amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) that would require the central government to reallocate NT$375.3 billion (US$11.49 billion) of the federal budget to local governments.
After deducting legally mandated expenses, the amendments could cut spending for programs — including the national defense budget — by up to 28 percent, Chen told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee today.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
However, if cuts are not made to the national defense budget, funding for other projects — including rent and labor insurance subsidies — could be slashed by up to 37 percent, she said.
The central government’s legally mandated expenses for next year should be compiled and accounted for before cutting public spending, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張啓楷) said.
When Chen was in charge of the budget for the Tainan City Government, the city also supported the proposed amendments, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) said.
At that time, Tainan had already reached its upper threshold for debt under the Public Debt Act (公共債務法) and struggled to pay wages, but now the financial situation across all counties and cities has changed, with many now running a surplus, Chen said.
The new amendments could impact major projects and policies of the central government, and create issues in compiling the 2026 fiscal budget, she said.
Next year’s central government budget is NT$3.13 trillion, with about 58 percent untouchable, leaving 42 percent, or NT$1.32 trillion, that must be cut by up to 28 percent, Chen said.
The cuts would make it difficult for important and ongoing projects to continue, impacting the budgets for national defense (NT$295 billion), labor insurance subsidies (NT$120 billion), rent subsidies (NT$40 billion) and projects addressing the low birthrate (NT$34.6 billion), Chen said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS