The Executive Yuan to Put Forth Special Typhoon Budget

The Executive Yuan decided to appropriate a special budget of NT$100 billion at minimum and NT$200 billion at maximum to fund the rescue and reconstruction operations related to typhoon Morakot.

The special budget will be based on the special reconstruction statute for the Aug. 7 flood, which will be put forth in no time, and will boost the central government`s total budget outlay next year to over NT$2 trillion, a record high.

The special budget will be exempt from the legal ceiling on the central government`s annual debt, set at 15% of its budget, and will be executed over a three-year period. At the maximum level of NT$200 billion, it will boost the economic growth rate by 0.5 of a percentage point.