The Legislative Yuan’s refusal to fund the government could reduce the economic growth rate by up to 1.5 percent next year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) told lawmakers yesterday.
Although the DGBAS has yet to make a formal assessment, growth is estimated to decline by 0.05 percent per NT$10 billion (US$317.7 million) in cuts to government spending, DGBAS Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) told a legislative hearing on the budget fight’s impact on the economy.
The legislative impasse affects general and special government budgets that totaled NT$299.2 billion, she said, adding that the 3.54 percent economic growth rate projected for next year must be revised downward.
Photo: CNA
DGBAS officials told reporters that government spending is part of the economic activities that drive growth, and that reduced funding would be detrimental to the nation’s economy.
Affected funding items include a NT$10.2 billion project on 10 technologies, including uncrewed vehicles, robotics, silicone chips and quantum computing, the NT$7.5 billion TPass 2.0 program, and a NT$6 billion sustainable materials industry park, the DGBAS said in a report.
National Science and Technology Council Deputy Minister Su Chen-kang (蘇振綱) said the budget fight cast into doubt government investments in key technologies, including computing power, silicon photonics and smart robotics.
Loss of funding in these areas would disrupt the council’s plans to facilitate the growth of Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) sector, he said, calling on lawmakers to pass the budget.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) said the withdrawal of state support could jeopardize Taiwan’s ability to obtain the advanced semiconductors for its AI program amid surging global demand for chips.
Separately, DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) wrote on social media that refusal to examine the budget by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) could render the nation defenseless against China.
The deadlock over funding jeopardizes the Ministry of National Defense’s budget of NT$78 billion, an amount accounting for 26 percent of next year’s budget, she said.
The spending would include the maintenance, spare parts and ammunition budget for the military’s aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and other equipment, as well as for the procurement of Harpoon missiles and F-16 targeting pods, and funding for training military reservists, she added.
“The KMT and TPP have opened a gap in the nation’s defenses, gladdened China and disheartened Taiwanese,” Wu said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS