An amendment aiming to extend and increase support for the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic has passed its second reading in Taiwan’s legislature. The news on Friday comes as the country fights to contain its worst outbreak of the disease so far.
The government’s Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for COVID-19 originally passed into law in February 2020. It provided a budget of NT$210 billion (US$7.5 billion) for subsidies and tax relief for businesses affected by the pandemic. Lawmakers then doubled that budget to NT$420 billion (US$15 billion) in May 2020.
The current amendment aims to increase the budget again to NT$630 billion (US$22.6 billion). It also aims to extend the time limit for spending the budget by one year, to June 30, 2022.
Democratic Progressive Party Caucus Leader Liu Shyh-fang has thanked Taiwan’s opposition party, the KMT, for helping pass the amendment so swiftly. She says she hopes the increased budget will help industries affected by the pandemic recover quickly.
However, the clock is ticking for the amendment to pass into law. That’s because the current legislative session ends May 31 and a new session doesn’t begin until September. This means that if the government doesn’t manage to extend the bill this session, the bill will expire at the end of this June while the legislature is in recess. For this reason, lawmakers from both major parties have agreed to make a third and final reading of the amendment a top legislative priority.