The Legislature reduced the central government’s budget for 2025 by around NT$207.5 billion (US$6.3 billion). This Thursday, various ministries met with the Cabinet to discuss the impact of such substantial cuts and freezes on their policies.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has held three press conferences this week to explain the impact that the cuts will have on the central government’s budget. The Cabinet submitted its NT$3.13 trillion (US$95.6 billion) budget plan for the 2025 fiscal year to the Legislature for approval in November 2024, which was met with significant cuts and freezes at just NT$2.92 trillion (US$89.23 billion).
A sign language interpreter is uncharacteristically absent from the press conference this Thursday. (Photo: Cabinet's YouTube)
The cut to operating expenses for the Cabinet was so significant that there wasn’t enough funds to hire a sign language interpreter, meaning one was uncharacteristically absent from their Thursday press conference. Economic Minister J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), Culture Minister Li Yuan (李遠), and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) have all voiced their struggles since the cuts. Li was brought to tears as he spoke of how unreasonable and humiliating he found the budget cuts to be.
Premier Cho Jung-tai speaking at the press conference this Thursday. (Photo: CNA)
Premier Cho pointed out that this year’s total budget cuts are six times more than that of the past. He questioned why the central government’s budget isn’t allowed to increase when Taiwan’s economic growth and local government spending has increased.
Cho has ordered the Cabinet’s Central Taiwan Joint Services Center to halt all unnecessary services, only maintaining the bare minimum in light of the changes. Regarding whether or not the Cabinet will propose to appeal the total budget changes, Premier Cho said that the Cabinet must act in accordance with the constitution even when situations undermining the constitutional system arise.
