Outgoing government achievements touted at final Cabinet meeting

Taipei, May 16 (CNA) The Cabinet touted the achievements of the administration of outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the past eight years in a report presented during a weekly meeting on Thursday, highlighting Taiwan's high annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Taiwan's average annual economic growth reached 3.15 percent during the eight-year period, ahead of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore, the report indicated.

During the period, Taiwan's GDP posted a cumulative increase of NT$27 trillion (US$841.31 billion), according to the report.

The achievements were made thanks to the government's promotion of a number of strategic and innovative industries, the introduction of three major programs for investing in Taiwan, and improvement of the investment environment to boost economic and export growth, the Cabinet said in the report.

The report on the achievements of Tsai and her administration during her two four-year tenures was presented at the final Cabinet meeting presided over by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).

During the meeting, Chen led the collective resignation of the Cabinet to pave the way for the formation of the new government by Taiwan's incoming president Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who will be inaugurated on May 20.

In addition, Taiwan has experienced 110 percent growth in renewable energy power generation compared with 2016, the Executive Yuan said in the report.

It also boasted a big budget boost for the national child care policy to counter declining birth rates, saying that the government budget for related measures has grown from NT$15.4 billion in 2016 to NT$120.1 billion this year.

The Cabinet said the budget for long-term care services has also soared from NT$4.95 billion to NT$87.6 billion this year, claiming that 510,000 people are expected to benefit from the program, up from the about 90,000 in 2016.

In addition, the government has raised the national minimum wage for eight consecutive years since 2016, with the monthly level increased from NT$20,008 to NT$27,470, while the hourly minimum wage rose from NT$120 to NT$183.

Moreover, the salaries of military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers have been raised three times, resulting in a cumulative public sector salary increase of 11.4 percent, according to the report.