FISCALLY AWAREThe government has been urged to reduce its overspending to NT$200 billion, inclusive of special budgets, to prove it is financially responsible

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 30, 2017
By: Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Executive Yuan on Friday announced the budget and annual expenditure estimate for fiscal 2018, with a slight increase in national expenditure — up 0.6 percent compared with fiscal 2017 — to NT$1.9 trillion (US$62.7 billion).

The Executive Yuan plans large-scale increases in public construction and technological development expenditures, with the former given 16.3 percent more than this year and the latter increasing by 10 percent.

Both budgets included funds from the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.

Social welfare received NT$489 billion, the greatest source of expenditure in the budget, with the Ministry of National Defense budget estimated at NT$330 billion, the Executive Yuan said.    [FULL  STORY]