The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a NT$210 billion (US$7.11 billion) budget proposal for COVID-19 relief, with NT$137.5 billion earmarked for economic stimulus for sectors hit hard by the pandemic.
Under the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Recovery (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) the government was authorized — depending on developments amid the pandemic — to issue a second stimulus budget that does not exceed the first one, which in April had its cap increased to NT$210 billion.
The second budget was proposed because the nation’s export-oriented manufacturing industry has suffered due to a weak global economy, while the tourism and transportation industries need more relief due to restrictions on inbound visitors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The increase would be funded entirely by borrowing, the DGBAS said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs would receive the largest slice, NT$137.5 billion, of which NT$38.2 billion would be used to offset a shortage of funds for the Triple Stimulus Vouchers; NT$45 billion would be to guarantee loans companies had taken out; and NT$37.8 billion would cover salaries and operational costs of businesses in service, trade, exhibition, manufacturing and manufacturing-related industries, the DGBAS said.
The Triple Stimulus Vouchers cost NT$51.1 billion, it said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare would be given NT$37.4 billion, including NT$2 billion for research and development of COVID-19 vaccines; NT$11.6 billion for purchasing such vaccines; NT$12 billion in bonuses and reimbursements to personnel involved in disease prevention; and NT$5.3 billion for the government’s response to the pandemic, the proposal showed.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications would receive NT$9.8 billion, including NT$6.8 billion to subsidize salaries for travel agency employees, tour guides and stores at international airports; NT$2 billion for airports to cover shortfalls in landing and royalty fees; NT$400 million for transportation companies that carried people from airports after they were ordered into quarantine; and NT$200 million to hotels enlisted by local governments to accommodate people ordered into isolation, it showed.
The Council of Agriculture would receive NT$19.1 billion, including NT$18.4 billion in subsidies for fishers and NT$400 million to cover losses sustained by the seafood industry, it showed.
The duration of the budget for disease prevention has been extended, with the deadline moved from December to June next year, DGBAS Department of General Fund Director-General Chang Wei-ming (張惟明) said.
Subsidies for salaries in industries overseen by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications would be extended from the end of the third quarter to the end of the year, officials said.
The budget request is to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that due to the budget request, a second extraordinary session seems inevitable.
The extraordinary session would likely begin after the Aug. 15 Kaohsiung mayoral by-election, Ker said.
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