▲ Taiwanese Dollar Banknotes
Ahead of next month's local elections, Taiwan's opposition party has announced that it is pushing to distribute 20,000 New Taiwan dollars (approx. 830,000 won) in cash per person to all citizens in a bid to win over voters.
The Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, revealed through its Central Standing Committee on October 14 that its affiliated legislators plan to pass the KMT's version of the "AI bonus" special ordinance bill before October 28 next month.
Tsen Yi-hsin, director-general of the KMT Central Committee's Culture and Communications Committee, explained that surveys show very favorable public reception within lawmakers' constituencies regarding the proposal to distribute the 20,000 New Taiwan dollar bonus.
Director-General Tsen stated that the Central Standing Committee has urged party lawmakers to ensure the KMT-version bonus bill passes the Legislative Yuan before the local elections. He added that if the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) casts opposing votes in the legislature, it will "clearly show voters who is standing in the way of the public's demands."
KMT lawmakers emphasized that the 20,000 New Taiwan dollar AI bonus stems from this year's tax revenue surplus and that the promise remains unchanged, stressing that the Executive Yuan should not use fiscal discipline as an excuse to turn the economic bonus expected by the public into a tool for political sparring.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who also serves as the chairperson of the ruling DPP, urged the swift passage of the bill related to the 10,000 New Taiwan dollar (approx. 410,000 won) bonus during the DPP Central Standing Committee meeting the previous day.
President Lai urged all party officials to step up promotion of related policies and cooperate with the Executive Yuan to ensure sufficient communication with all sectors of society so they can understand the government's policy direction.
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance submitted a report on the AI bonus distribution plan, which would provide 10,000 New Taiwan dollars per citizen, to the Executive Yuan on October 8.
If the central government's general budget bill for 2027 is passed before January 5 of next year, the AI bonus could be disbursed before next year's Lunar New Year (Spring Festival).
Sources analyzed that as this year's local elections are seen as a precursor to the upcoming Taiwanese presidential and legislative elections to be held in January 2028, the ruling and opposition parties are engaging in a tug-of-war over the amount and timing of the AI bonus ahead of the vote.
They further projected that even if the 20,000 New Taiwan dollar distribution bill is passed under opposition leadership in the opposition-controlled legislature, Premier Cho Jung-tai of the Executive Yuan is unlikely to sign it. In such a scenario, the opposition intends to intensely highlight that the ruling party is ignoring public sentiment to secure an advantageous position in the local elections.
There have been five previous instances where the Taiwanese authorities distributed consumption coupons or cash to boost consumption.
To overcome the financial crisis in the late 2000s, consumption coupons worth 3,600 New Taiwan dollars were issued. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, consumption coupons worth 3,000 New Taiwan dollars and 5,000 New Taiwan dollars were distributed, respectively.
In addition, 6,000 New Taiwan dollars in cash was handed out in 2023 to stimulate the economy toward the end of COVID-19, followed by 10,000 New Taiwan dollars in cash in 2025 to respond to the shock of U.S. reciprocal tariffs.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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