The central government’s general budget for this fiscal year is on Tuesday next week to be sent to committees for review, after the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee today approved the agenda and the timetable, potentially ending 230 days of deadlock.
Lawmakers on Tuesday reached a consensus that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and other Executive Yuan officials would be invited to present President William Lai’s (賴清德) budget on Tuesday next week.
The proposal would then be formally submitted to committees for review.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The legislature yesterday agreed to begin deliberations following cross-caucus negotiations, rejecting a motion by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to reconsider the budget.
A cross-committee review of the administrative budget portion of the general budget would be conducted from Wednesday to May 14, according to the schedule.
The legislative committees are expected to submit their review reports to the Finance Committee for consolidation before May 18.
The Finance Committee would then convene on May 21 to discuss the reports and submit the proposal to the plenary session.
The Executive Yuan said it would instruct agencies to begin preparatory budget execution work after the general budget is sent to committees for review, Cho said.
The Executive Yuan welcomes proposals to allocate portions of the budget to new projects, he said.
The government has agreed to unfreeze NT$71.8 billion (US$2.28 billion) of the budget to allocate to new projects backed by opposition parties.
The 38 projects include subsidies to address the nation's low birthrate, funding for the TPass transport program, and flood control and water management initiatives.
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