The issuing of universal NT$10,000 cash handouts would require the government to borrow NT$101.4 billion (US$3.44 billion), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today, as he questioned whether this would be a good move, both morally and financially considering the state of the nation’s finances.
The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed the third reading of the government’s special relief package, including approving a NT$10,000 cash handout proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), increasing the total budget from NT$410 billion to NT$545 billion.
The opposition has claimed that the government’s budget surplus is NT$1.8 trillion.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Although this figure reflects cumulative tax returns from 2021 to 2024, the majority has already been allocated, leaving just NT$443.6 billion, Cho said.
After subtracting NT$280.4 billion allocated to local governments, NT$195.7 billion legally allocated to special funds, almost NT$900 billion used to reduce debt, NT$15 billion for the new fighter jet special budget and NT$379.9 billion budget for the post-pandemic recovery plan, plus adding non-tax revenue and expenditure differences of NT$330 billion, the usable surplus is just NT$443.6 billion, he said.
The opposition voted to slash the proposed NT$100-billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), while upholding the universal cash handout, Cho said, adding that the passing of the bill was neither legal nor constitutional.
Under the current circumstances, finances should be focused on disaster prevention, strengthening the economy, national resilience and supporting vulnerable segments of the population, he said.
Cho added that he would once again present a detailed report at the Legislative Yuan and allow the public to come to their own conclusions.
The government would use future budgets, among other means, to support state enterprises including Taipower, whether the NT$100-billion subsidy is approved or not, he said.
The government has already proposed supplementary budgets, general budgets and three separate acts to support Taipower, which were cut by the opposition, he added.
If Taipower is unable to stabilize its finances, strengthen internal financial management, improve infrastructure and boost the resilience of the grid, this would be unfair to Taipower personnel, he said.
The opposition has claimed that the special act is a legislative bill and not a budget bill and is therefore in line with the Constitution, adding that the Executive Yuan has itself violated the Constitution by refusing to draft a budget in accordance with the act.
Cho said that the opposition should not act as if they were ignorant of the law to evade legal provisions.
The Constitution clearly states that the Executive Yuan is responsible for drafting budgets and the Legislative Yuan is tasked with reviewing them, he said.
However, the legislature has increased administrative spending without first consulting the cabinet, he said.
Cho called for fiscal discipline and proper procedure to be followed in handling budgetary bills.
The Executive Yuan has, in the past, sought remedies for multiple legislative and budget-related acts that it deemed unconstitutional or unlawful, Cho said, adding that the cabinet would take those actions into consideration to plan its next steps.
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