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Updated Monday, December 15, 2008 9:36 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Premier to brief lawmakers on voucher budget

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Premier Liu Chao-shiuan will lead Cabinet officials to give reports to the Legislative Yuan tomorrow on the budget plan of giving consumption vouchers valued at NT$3,600 to each citizen ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday as part of a program to encourage spending and stimulate the economy.

The lawmakers already approved the voucher program in a special statute and the Cabinet is seeking an outlay of NT$85.7 billion, which is higher than the original sum of NT$83 billion.

Liu and officials from the Ministry of Finance as well as the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics will explain the source of the budget and administrative fees for producing and distributing the vouchers.

Lawmakers of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), who control two-thirds of the legislative seats had planned to pass the budget through the committees before Dec. 22 and the final reading by Dec. 26 at the latest, so that the shopping vouchers can be issued by Jan. 18 — one full week ahead of the start of the Chinese New Year.

KMT lawmakers said they will carefully examine the use of the NT$1.966 billion in the administrative costs and the NT$28 million sought by the Government Information Office (GIO) in a publicity campaign to dispel possible misunderstanding and confusion for consumers.

Legislators of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said they will not boycott the budget that will benefit the people. But they will raise questions about the ill-preparation for unseen crises by Cabinet officials who seemed to have recklessly rushed out a costly program in a haste without sound planning.

When addressing a gathering honoring families that offer volunteer services in central Taichung City, Interior Minister Liao Liou-yi said his ministry plans to give notifications to citizens to get their vouchers at designated times and locations to avoid long queues or chaos.

He said the well-intentioned voucher program is designed to assist people make shopping for new clothes and shoes or other daily necessities for the New Year holidays while helping to prop up the flagging domestic economy

Liao said the campaign of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) calling for the public to contribute ideas on the best way to maximize the effects of the shopping vouchers have produced many interesting ideas.

The ideas put forward by the public included stamp-sized coupons and coupons that look like vouchers issued by department stores, while others suggested having the vouchers on a single sheet that would be stamped each time it was used.

Liao did not disclose if anyone had actually won any of the various prizes offered by the MOI for winning ideas, but he thanked the people for sharing their creativity.

The GIO will start a creativity contest today on how to maximize the economy-stimulating effect of the coupons. A grand prize of NT$100,000 will be awarded to the winner, whose name will be announced at the end of January. There will also be runner-up prizes of NT$30,000 and NT$10,000.

All the ideas, whether or not they are winners, will be placed into a database that will be made available for business operators and shop owners.

The GIO will also set up a Web site for business operators to advertise their discounts, sales and promotional events.

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