Chief planner stakes job on voucher success

Chen Tain-jy, chief of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, told the Legislative Yuan that he stands by the estimate made by his council that the shopping vouchers program will boost the gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.64 percent next year.

Chen said that although no economic policy can be executed as comprehensively as expected, he would resign from his post if the program failed to boost the economy by less than half of his council’s forecast.

He made the promise while fielding questions from lawmakers who claimed that a similar program in Japan in 1999 boosted that county’s GDP by only 0.1 percent.

Chen said the difference lies in the fact that Japan’s national income is much higher than Taiwan’s.

Under Taiwan’s program, the Executive Yuan will give shopping vouchers worth NT$3600 to each citizen before the Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan. 26, to prompt consumption in hopes that it will in turn fuel economic growth.

The country’s economy dipped to negative growth in the third quarter of this year and is expected to remain in negative for the next two quarters.

As a result, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Nov. 21 adjusted its forecast for economic growth downward from 5.08 percent to 2.12 percent for this year and from 4.3 percent to 1.86 percent for next year.

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