The government has unveiled its plans to distribute stimulus vouchers to reinvigorate Taiwan’s economy. And the plan is similar to a “triple stimulus voucher” program the government rolled out last year. This time around, though, officials hope people will opt for digital vouchers rather than physical ones.
Last year, Taiwan’s “triple stimulus voucher” program saw people exchanging NT$1,000 cash for NT$3,000 in either digital or physical consumer vouchers. The government rolled out the program to offset the economic impact of COVID-19.
In mid-May Taiwan was hit with its first major COVID-19 outbreak, which the country has since controlled, but not before it took its toll on Taiwan’s economy. The government is now looking to simply hand out NT$5,000 (US$180) in consumer vouchers to each person for free.
This time around, though, the government wants to encourage people to adopt digital vouchers. Less than 10% of people signed up for electronic “triple stimulus vouchers” last year. Not only did this increase the cost of the program, but it also generated quite a bit of waste.
Taiwan’s economics ministry says it’s shooting for 20% digital adoption for this round of vouchers. It says, in order to hit that target, roughly 4 million people need to opt into the program electronically.
To do this, the economics ministry is offering a separate NT$500 (US$18) restaurant and food voucher. The first 4 million people to sign up for digital stimulus vouchers will receive the NT$500 food voucher.
Though the government has a target, it can’t strongarm people into using digital vouchers. It says it will respect anyone’s decision to receive physical vouchers. However, the government’s offer to include an extra NT$500 in food with digital vouchers sure does sweeten the deal.