<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Taiwan approves $6.7b special budget
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->TAIPEI: Taiwan's Parliament yesterday approved a massive NT$149.1 billion (S$6.7 billion) special public spending budget for this year to stimulate the economy and create jobs for the island mired in recession.
The approved budget, slightly lower than a NT$150.7 billion passed by the Cabinet earlier this year, is part of the government's wider plan to pour NT$500 billion in public spending into the economy over the next four years.
Legislators said they passed the budget to expand or accelerate projects, such as revitalising urban cores, updating industrial parks, building a cross-town freeway in the congested central city of Taichung and repairing dangerously built schools.
The budget constitutes around 1per cent of Taiwan's gross domestic product, totalling about NT$13 trillion.
Earlier this year, the government handed out coupons worth NT$3,600 to each of the island's 22.7 million residents in a bid to get them spending again to boost the flagging economy.
The economic woes have intensified pressure on President Ma Ying-jeou, who won a landslide victory in March on a platform of boosting the economy, vowing to achieve 6 per cent annual economic growth.
Taiwan, the sixth biggest economy in Asia, has been hit hard by the global financial storm, with record falls in its key export sector and rising unemployment.
Its economy shrank by a record 8 per cent in the fourth quarter while its February jobless rate rose to a record 5.75 per cent owing to business downsizing and closures.
The special budget is not part of the central government's 2009 general budget of NT$1.809 trillion expenditure for this year, which is expected to yield a shortfall of NT$134.6 billion.
The government plans to issue more bonds to cover the shortfall.
The Council for Economic Planning and Development estimates that the special spending package will help create 190,000 to 220,000 jobs this year.
'Mainly the special budget is a way to stimulate the economy with government investment and to create jobs,' said ruling party legislator Chang Sho-wen. 'If we see economic improvement later, this budget can help increase Taiwan's competitiveness.'
This spending plan will also go towards revamping railway networks and training for workers. The government plans to spend another NT$160.7 billion next year. REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->TAIPEI: Taiwan's Parliament yesterday approved a massive NT$149.1 billion (S$6.7 billion) special public spending budget for this year to stimulate the economy and create jobs for the island mired in recession.
The approved budget, slightly lower than a NT$150.7 billion passed by the Cabinet earlier this year, is part of the government's wider plan to pour NT$500 billion in public spending into the economy over the next four years.
Legislators said they passed the budget to expand or accelerate projects, such as revitalising urban cores, updating industrial parks, building a cross-town freeway in the congested central city of Taichung and repairing dangerously built schools.
The budget constitutes around 1per cent of Taiwan's gross domestic product, totalling about NT$13 trillion.
Earlier this year, the government handed out coupons worth NT$3,600 to each of the island's 22.7 million residents in a bid to get them spending again to boost the flagging economy.
The economic woes have intensified pressure on President Ma Ying-jeou, who won a landslide victory in March on a platform of boosting the economy, vowing to achieve 6 per cent annual economic growth.
Taiwan, the sixth biggest economy in Asia, has been hit hard by the global financial storm, with record falls in its key export sector and rising unemployment.
Its economy shrank by a record 8 per cent in the fourth quarter while its February jobless rate rose to a record 5.75 per cent owing to business downsizing and closures.
The special budget is not part of the central government's 2009 general budget of NT$1.809 trillion expenditure for this year, which is expected to yield a shortfall of NT$134.6 billion.
The government plans to issue more bonds to cover the shortfall.
The Council for Economic Planning and Development estimates that the special spending package will help create 190,000 to 220,000 jobs this year.
'Mainly the special budget is a way to stimulate the economy with government investment and to create jobs,' said ruling party legislator Chang Sho-wen. 'If we see economic improvement later, this budget can help increase Taiwan's competitiveness.'
This spending plan will also go towards revamping railway networks and training for workers. The government plans to spend another NT$160.7 billion next year. REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
