2021 BUDGET: Social welfare policies would have the biggest slice of the budget of NT$2.16 trillion, followed by education, culture and science-related expenditures

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 14, 2020
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled its budget proposal of NT$2.16 trillion (US$73.13 billion) for fiscal 2021, which includes NT366.8 billion for defense expenditure, an increase of NT$15.6 billion, or 4.4 percent, from this year.

If including payment for the F-16Vs that the nation has committed to purchase from the US, which totals NT$29 billion and would be drawn from a special budget, and non-profit special funds of NT$57.6 billion, the defense budget for next fiscal year would be NT$453.4 billion, or 2.4 percent of this year’s projected GDP, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.

Social welfare policies would have the largest slice of the budget at NT$559.4 billion, or 25.9 percent of the projected expenditure, followed by education, culture and science-related expenses, which total NT$429 billion, or 19.9 percent.

The funding for economic policies would account for the fifth-largest proportion of the budget at NT$253.9 billion, or 11.7 percent.    [FULL  STORY]