The government plans to begin issuing consumer vouchers on Jan. 18 or Jan. 19, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Chairman Chen Tian-jy (陳添枝) said yesterday.
Explaining the details of the voucher plan to the legislature’s Economics Committee, Chen said the government would also consider shortening the validity of the vouchers to six months.
Since many people oppose the proposed ban on using the vouchers at foodstands or for taxis, Chen said the council would review details and come up with the final version of the plan within a week.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said fewer than 5,000 of the 60,000 food stall operators at the 480 public markets nationwide have business licenses.
As most housewives and other consumers buy foods at traditional markets on a daily basis, it would not make much sense if vouchers could not be used at these markets, Ting said.
While many details still need to be hammered out, Chen said the decision had been made to issue paper vouchers instead of plastic debit cards. He estimated the cost of printing each voucher at NT$1.1 to NT$1.2.
“The more face values available, the costs of these molds would become prohibitive. After the number of face values are determined, then it will be important to decide what quantities of each face value are to be printed,” Chen said.
Discussions with the central bank will help determine the exact allocations, he said.
Ting then suggested embedding voucher stamps into regular currency during the printing process to cut costs by reducing the need for new molds and additional papers.
The council’s proposal to print vouchers valued at NT$100, NT$200, NT$500 and NT$1,000 was also hotly contested on the legislative floor.
KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) urged government officials to drop the NT$200 voucher since the NT$200 bill had proven unpopular, although other legislators were in favor of it.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) announced the government planned to give each citizen NT$3,600 in vouchers to help boost consumer spending and revitalize the economy. The expiration date of the vouchers would be Dec. 31 next year, the Cabinet said on Tuesday.
The council has forecast the voucher plan will boost GDP by 0.64 percent next year.
The two major assumptions underlying the council’s model are full usage of the vouchers and a conservative economic multiplier effect of 0.04 percent.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) was unconvinced the vouchers would really provide a boost to the economy.
On average, each citizen spends NT$315,200 annually, which translates to 6 percent of GDP, so the council’s NT$3,600 per citizen voucher would represent just 1 percent of their annual average spending or only 0.06 percent of GDP, Lee said, not a boost of 0.64 percent.
“The assumption of 100 percent usage of these coupons is fundamentally flawed. It is unrealistic. The Council for Economic Planning and Development did not take substitution effect into consideration, it did not consider people might simply not use their vouchers and it did not foresee people converting their vouchers on the black market and saving the cash,” Lee said.
Lee said just providing cash would be a better alternative.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
SEMICONDUCTORS: The firm has already completed one fab, which is to begin mass producing 2-nanomater chips next year, while two others are under construction Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to begin construction of its fourth and fifth wafer fabs in Kaohsiung next year, targeting the development of high-end processes. The two facilities — P4 and P5 — are part of TSMC’s production expansion program, which aims to build five fabs in Kaohsiung. TSMC facility division vice president Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) on Thursday said that the five facilities are expected to create 8,000 jobs. To respond to the fast-changing global semiconductor industry and escalating international competition, TSMC said it has to keep growing by expanding its production footprints. The P4 and P5
DOWNFALL: The Singapore-based oil magnate Lim Oon Kuin was accused of hiding US$800 million in losses and leaving 20 banks with substantial liabilities Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin (林恩強) has been declared bankrupt in Singapore, following the collapse of his oil trading empire. The name of the founder of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (興隆貿易) and his children Lim Huey Ching (林慧清) and Lim Chee Meng (林志朋) were listed as having been issued a bankruptcy order on Dec. 19, the government gazette showed. The younger Lims were directors at the company. Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory Pte Ltd are the trustees, according to the gazette. At its peak, Hin Leong traded a range of oil products, made lubricants and operated loading
The growing popularity of Chinese sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks has shaken up Mexico’s luxury car market, hitting sales of traditionally dominant brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price, industry experts say. It is no small feat in a country home to factories of foreign brands such as Audi and BMW, and where until a few years ago imported Chinese cars were stigmatized, as in other parts of the world. The high-end segment of the market registered a sales drop
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
RSS