Premier looks to issue NT$10,000 cash handout by Lunar New Year

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) The government plans to start issuing a proposed NT$10,000 (US$313) cash handout in January, before the Lunar New Year holiday, if the 2027 general budget clears legislative review by Jan. 5, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said Thursday.

The government has earmarked NT$235.7 billion in the general budget for the handout, which it said will be funded solely by tax revenue growth driven by tech-related turnover, amid forecast economic growth of 11.05 percent.

Presiding over a Cabinet meeting, Cho said that if the Legislative Yuan approves the general budget proposal by Jan. 5, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will be able to promulgate it by Jan. 20, allowing the first group of recipients to register online for the handout on Jan. 25 and receive it the following day under the Ministry of Finance's phased plan

In that scenario, Cho said, the government can start issuing the handout before the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 4.

However, people who choose to claim the handout at an ATM or a post office will have to wait until Feb. 15 and 22, respectively, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance said Thursday at a weekly Cabinet news conference that eligible recipients will include citizens with household registrations in Taiwan and nationals without household registrations who have obtained residence permits.

Foreign nationals who have obtained permanent residence permits; spouses of Taiwan nationals from China, Hong Kong, Macau or other countries who have obtained residence permits; and government personnel stationed overseas for official duties and their dependents who hold Taiwan nationality will also be eligible, the ministry said.

Asked to comment on the feasibility of a bill sponsored by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) caucus that would require the government to issue NT$20,000 per person, Deputy Finance Minister Juan Ching-hwa (阮清華) said the proposal is not fiscally sound.

The planned NT$10,000 handout would go ahead on the condition that income and expenditure are balanced and that there will be no borrowing or appropriation of surpluses from the previous fiscal year, Juan said.

The KMT proposal would increase spending to over NT$470 billion, roughly 13 percent of total general budget spending, Juan said.

"If you want to raise it from NT$10,000 to NT$20,000, borrowing will be necessary, and that will surely crowd out [funding for] existing projects, impacting fiscal stability," Juan warned.