A 37 percent reduction to all government projects would be necessary if controversial budget allocation amendments go into effect and the defense budget remains unchanged, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) said yesterday.
The legislature on Dec. 20 passed amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) which would reallocate NT$375.3 billion (US$11.47 billion) of the central government’s budget to local governments.
It was the first time in more than 25 years that the Legislative Yuan had revised the act.
.Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
After deducting legally mandated expenses, the amendments could cut spending for programs — including the national defense budget — by up to 28 percent, Chen told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday.
However, if cuts are not made to the national defense budget, funding for other projects, including rent and labor insurance subsidies, could be slashed by up to 37 percent, she said.
The central government’s legally mandated expenses for next year should be compiled and accounted for before cutting public spending, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chang Chi-kai said.
Currently, the central government is allocated 75 percent of the country’s total tax or other revenue, while local governments are given 25 percent of available funding. The amendments aimed to allow local governments return to the 60-40 percent allocation ratio before 1999.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) yesterday said that when President William Lai (賴清德) was Tainan mayor and Chen was in charge of the budget for the Tainan City Government, the city supported amending the act.
Chen said that at that time, Tainan had already reached its upper threshold for debt under the Public Debt Act (公共債務法) and struggled to pay wages, but the financial situation of all counties and cities have changed, with many now running a surplus.
The new amendments could impact major projects and policies of the central government, and create issues in compiling the 2026 fiscal budget, she said.
Next year’s central government budget is NT$3.13 trillion, about 58 percent of which is untouchable, leaving 42 percent, or NT$1.32 trillion, which would be cut by up to 28 percent, Chen said.
The cuts would make it difficult for important and ongoing projects to continue, impacting the budgets for national defense (NT$295 billion), labor insurance subsidies (NT$120 billion), rent subsidies (NT$40 billion) and projects addressing the low birthrate (NT$34.6 billion), Chen added.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS