News
Government slams opposition amendments to funding law
The government is slamming the passing of draft amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures saying the move will create a "fiscal imbalance" that will "severely impact the development of the nation" if passed into law.
The amendments passed an initial review during a meeting of the Legislative Economics Committee despite lawmakers clashing both verbally and physically. The meeting lasted just three minutes.
According to the deputy head of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics the amendments not only require the central government to relinquish financial resources, but also do not allow for the central government's general funding to local governments to be reduced.
The Ministry of Finance has issued a written statement in opposition to the amendments, saying the central government has provided general and project-based subsidies to support local government finances in recent years and if the central government is now required to release NT$661.2 billion along with an additional NT$541.2 billion for general and project-based subsidies, it will "severely impact the central government's ability to govern."
