Government mulls opening stimulus voucher program to APRC holders

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's government is considering allowing foreign nationals who hold Alien Permanent Resident Certificates (APRC) to buy into its economic stimulus voucher program, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Wang said the Cabinet had tentatively agreed to open the "Triple Stimulus Voucher Program" to the roughly 10,000 foreign permanent residents in Taiwan, adding that a formal announcement would be made once the plan was finalized.

Despite the fact that the program only runs through the end of the year, Wang expressed confidence that there will still be demand for the vouchers, citing the Christmas holiday in December.

She did not explain what was behind the planned policy change, saying only that it would "stimulate spending."

The government's voucher program, which launched on July 15, allows Taiwan citizens and their foreign or Chinese spouses with residency permits to purchase NT$3,000 worth of vouchers for NT$1,000.

Based on Wang's remarks, even with the proposed changes, the program would continue to exclude non-permanent foreign residents, including the 633,000 migrant workers employed in the country as of the end of September.

During the same interview Friday, Wang said the government currently has no plans to extend the vouchers' deadline beyond Dec. 31.