The Executive Yuan approved the 2009 budget statement yesterday, with the budget for national defense the only one to suffer cuts.
The brief version of the budget statement said national defense spending would be NT$10.4 billion (US$331 million) lower than the amount earmarked for this year.
“This is because we are still negotiating the arms procurement deal [with the US],” Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Minister Shih Su-mei (石素梅) said without elaborating.
Shih would not say whether she was referring to the US$11 billion arms package or a plan to purchase 66 F 16C/D fighters at an estimated cost of US$5 billion.
“We write the budget to reflect reality, but for confidentiality reasons I cannot provide details,” she said.
The central government’s budget estimates from next year stated that cash inflow would increase by NT$84.9 billion to NT$1.7052 trillion, while spending would go up NT$118.3 billion to NT$1.7117 trillion.
“The increased spending will focus on education, technology, culture, the economy and benefits for the poor,” Shih said.
The budget earmarked for the “i-Taiwan 12 projects,” one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) major economic plans was NT$107.3 billion, NT$65.3 billion of which would go toward building a transportation network around the country.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that because of limited budgets, the Cabinet had incorporated as many items from the i-Taiwan 12 plan into the statement as possible.
Meanwhile, the government estimated that state-owned firms would suffer a loss of NT$27.3 billion next year because of the increase in electricity prices.
Ma’s election platform proposed putting NT$3.99 trillion into the ambitious “i-Taiwan 12 projects” over the next eight years to boost the economy.
The 12 infrastructure projects include linking rapid transit networks in cities and counties across the country, enhancing flood control measures, forestation, revitalizing farmland and marine areas, and turning Taoyuan into an “airport city.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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