Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced on Facebook and Instagram that the city’s debt has dropped below NT$100 billion (US$3.35 billion), marking the highest rate of debt repayment by a local government in Taiwan.
Ko posted on both online platforms, along with a photograph of him sitting at his desk on Friday reading official documents and the quote: “All we did was work hard every day. Do what should be done and avoid what shouldn’t be done, and a lot of money will remain at the end of the year.”
“Today, the Taipei City Government has officially left the NT$100 billion debt club,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
Taipei had NT$146.8 billion in debt when he took office, Ko said, but about NT$52 billion was repaid over the past three-and-a-half years, reducing the debt to about NT$94.8 billion — a reduction per capita from about NT$54,000 to NT$35,000.
The total amount repaid could reach NT$54 billion if city revenue continues to increase this year, he added.
Requests for supplementary funds became rare after Ko required all proposals to be reported to his office, while the amount spent on last year’s Summer Universiade opening and closing ceremonies was about NT$360 million, less than the NT$540 million spent on holding the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, he said.
Enforcing stricter financial discipline has increased efficiency, solved the problem of trying to use up budgets and freed up additional finances for new projects, Ko said, adding that the Taipei Department of Finance told him that repaying NT$52 billion in four years sets a new record among local government heads.
“The changes that we are making now will affect future generations. A responsible government should not leave debt for future generations — this is the belief that the Taipei Government has held on to for four years,” he wrote.
The post in one day gained more than 300,000 likes on Facebook and 40,000 likes on Instagram.
Ko’s claims were over-embellished, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said on Friday, adding that Ko had used money budgeted for important public infrastructure to repay debt, thus hurting the city’s competitiveness.
The city government led by former Taipei mayor Hau Long-bin (郝龍斌) handed over a surplus of about NT$23.1 billion, Ting said.
Taipei residents contributed to the debt repayments, Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) of the Democratic Progressive Party wrote on his Facebook page.
As the law stipulates that city governments must use at least 5 percent of tax revenue to repay debt, Ko is simply confusing the public and claiming the credit, Wang added.
Asked about these responses, Ko yesterday said financial discipline at local governments has been really poor — including the habit of often asking for supplementary funds and trying to use up budgeted funds at the end of the year, practices that should be thoroughly reviewed.
He added that he would ask the Taipei Department of Finance to issue a press release that answers the councilors’ questions.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to