Taiwan's Cabinet agrees to distribute NT$10,000 cash handouts

Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) The Executive Yuan said Thursday it would distribute cash handouts to Taiwanese citizens, reversing its earlier opposition to measures proposed and adopted by opposition lawmakers.

The Cabinet had previously rejected issuing NT$10,000 (US$333) to each Taiwanese citizen, saying the payouts would require government borrowing.

It also threatened to take the issue to the Constitutional Court, arguing the measures relating to cash handouts were enacted by the Legislature rather than initiated by the executive branch and were therefore "unconstitutional."

On Thursday, however, the Cabinet made a policy U-turn, saying it had decided to keep the cash handout provisions in its proposed amendments to a special act first passed by the Legislature in July.

Speaking at a press briefing in Taipei, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the policy change came after consultations with various sectors, without elaborating.

Instead of challenging the measures in court, Lee said the Cabinet would make them constitutional by amending them, thereby turning them into an initiative from the Executive Yuan.

It remains unclear whether noncitizen permanent residents and other legally resident foreigners in Taiwan will also be eligible for the handouts.

In response to a CNA inquiry, the Cabinet said the Ministry of Finance was unlikely to have a definitive answer until the proposed amendments pass the Legislature.

The proposed amendments still require legislative approval. If passed, the Cabinet will need to submit a separate appropriation bill to access the funding.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the proposed amendments to the special act, which is aimed at strengthening Taiwan's security infrastructure and providing relief to businesses and individuals likely to be affected by the direct and indirect impact of recently enacted U.S. tariffs.

The proposed amendments would allow the government to allocate an additional NT$45 billion, funded through borrowing, on top of the NT$545 billion already included in the special act.

Of the NT$45 billion, NT$20 billion would be allocated to Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) for its ongoing projects to upgrade power grids and move cables underground, Deputy Economics Minister Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) said at the briefing.

Ho stressed that the NT$20 billion was unrelated to the Cabinet's previous proposal to inject NT$100 billion in aid to the financially struggling Taipower.

The proposed aid for Taipower was not included in the special act in July due to the objections of opposition lawmakers.