The government yesterday announced mortgage and student loan subsidies to help ease financial challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Executive Yuan approved a Ministry of the Interior proposal to provide one-off mortgage subsidies of NT$30,000 (US$991) to eligible home buyers, Executive Yuan spokesman Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said.
Home buyers with an annual household income of less than NT$1.2 million who are liable for an original mortgage of up to NT$8.5 million in Taipei, or up to NT$7 million in the rest of the country, can apply for the subsidy, Chen Tseng-yen told reporters following a weekly Cabinet meeting presided over by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).
Photo: CNA
Applications are to open on Feb. 28, the ministry said, adding that about 550,000 households are expected to benefit.
Owners of multiple homes would be excluded, it added.
Housing justice is high on the premier’s agenda, Chen Tsung-yen said, adding that the measure is part of a government effort to help offset fallout from the pandemic on low-income and middle-class households over the past three years, during which interest rates were raised four times.
The subsidy is not meant to encourage people to buy homes or to subsidize luxury homeowners, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said, adding that landlords would not receive the subsidy.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal seeking to grant rent subsidies for economically disadvantaged people, including students aged 18 or older, as part of an annual NT$30 billion program implemented last year.
The number of eligible applicants has increased from 60,000 to 277,000, Lin said.
About 40 percent of subsidy recipients are underprivileged households, while young adults and newly married couples account for 30 percent, Lin added.
Meanwhile, students and recent graduates in need of financial assistance would have one year of student loans forgiven, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said.
The plan is expected to help 546,000 low-income students, recent graduates raising children and recent graduates earning less than NT$40,000 per month on average, Pan said, adding that it would be implemented in July.
About NT$380 billion in financial surplus and special budget funds are to go toward forgiving the loans, including principal and interest, he said.
No application would be necessary, with the forgiven amount deducted directly through issuing banks, Pan added.
The Ministry of Culture also announced NT$1,200 vouchers for young people who have missed out on “coming-of-age” traditions during the pandemic.
Originally intended only for 18-year-olds, the ministry has decided to issue the vouchers to Taiwanese aged 18 to 21, it said, adding that about 900,000 people would benefit.
Teenagers have not been able to hold graduation ceremonies or go on class trips over the three years of the pandemic, the culture ministry said.
The vouchers can be used for visiting exhibitions, performances or screenings of locally made movies, or to buy books, crafts or art, it said.
The plan is one of five programs proposed by the culture ministry to help young adults and revitalize Taiwan’s cultural industries, it said in a news release yesterday.
It also plans to support small bookstores, shops and cultural spaces; promote art classes and cultural experiences on and off campus; bring traditional performance troupes to rural areas; and expand art-related content to enhance cultural self-confidence, it said.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS