The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus is to allegedly push through the third reading of the NT$410 billion (US$14 billion) special act bill tomorrow, aiming to request an additional NT$230 billion be allocated for universal NT$10,000 cash handouts, raising the total budget to NT$640 billion.
The cabinet on April 24 approved a NT$410 billion special budget to enhance national security and boost economic resilience in response to US tariffs, aimed at ensuring job security, propping up industrial and agricultural sectors and protecting democracy.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
Around NT$93 billion of the budget was allocated for “economic resilience” to support supply chain relocation and “dual-axis transformation,” to focus on digital and net-zero technologies, in light of US President Donald Trump’s proposed reciprocal tariffs.
It also included an NT$100 billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and NT$150 billion for “whole-of-society defense resilience.”
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) has allegedly decided that the party caucus would propose a bill that would include the NT$100 billion subsidy for Taipower and NT$150 billion for “whole-of-society defense resilience.”
Several KMT party members later denied there was such a decision.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said Chu emphasized the party’s support for a universal cash handout while “leaving the rest for the party to decide.”
The party caucus has not yet discussed how to handle the NT$410 billion budget, he said.
The Executive Yuan said today that the cash handouts would push the government and public finances into crisis and could trigger inflation, urging the Legislative Yuan to carefully consider the proposal.
Although the opposition’s draft budget is welcomed, resources are currently focused on the aftermath of this week’s typhoon and preparing for the upcoming typhoon season, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said today, following a cabinet meeting.
Additionally, the Taipower subsidy is intended to offset Taipower’s mounting losses of NT$420 billion as of the end of last year, after it froze electricity rates for households and industries in line with government policy, she said.
President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) have consulted with front-line industry experts who hope that stabilizing electricity prices would help to counter the effects of US reciprocal tariffs, Lee said.
The government is optimistic about its ongoing negotiation with the US, Lee added.
The two countries have been deepening trade ties under the principle of reciprocity to achieve trade balance, Lee said.
Following Typhoon Danas, the nation watched as Taipower employees worked tirelessly to repair infrastructure and restore connection, she said, adding she hopes that the opposition would help to support the company.
Not a single dollar would be passed by the Legislative Yuan tomorrow, and the KMT is not willing to budge on striking the NT$100-billion Taipower subsidy, KMT think tank Deputy Director Ling Tao (凌濤) later said today.
Only regulations concerning society, economy and defense are to be discussed tomorrow, he said, adding that legislators do not intend to discuss the special budget itself.
The KMT is instead standing with the public and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that Taiwan can counter the effects of US tariffs, Ling said.
Lai said that although the party supports the NT$150 billion defense budget, it believes it should be allocated from a special or supplementary budget.
Lai said he consulted with Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), who made no promises that Taipower would freeze electricity prices on receiving the subsidy, which is unacceptable and requires further deliberation on the budget.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) today said the KMT’s proposal was “excessive,” and questioned where the additional funding would come from.
The KMT is willing to “take on debt for cash handouts, just to save their recall campaigns,” she added.
Additional reporting from Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
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