TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Cabinet will ask the legislature to release NT$138.1 billion (US$4.25 billion) in funding for 1,587 budget items frozen by opposition lawmakers when they passed the government budget in January.

Speaking outside the legislature on Tuesday, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said he will ask Cabinet ministers to submit the requests and hopes all funding will be unfrozen, per CNA. Cho said the legislature did not say how much it froze, and the Cabinet calculated the NT$138.1 billion amount.

Cho said the legislature passed three types of funding freezes. He said 1,162 items worth NT$15.4 billion can be funded after a written report is sent to legislators, 373 items worth NT$36.6 billion require a report and a review, and 49 items worth NT$86.1 billion are “special freezing items” with other requirements.

Of the special items, Cho said 30 state that funding will only be released when a specified amount of initial spending is used, and 10 others require negotiations with lawmakers. He said the requirements for nine frozen items are unconstitutional or illegal, and the Cabinet will struggle to implement them.

Cho said each ministry faces different requirements, so the timeframes for when unfreezing applications will be made differ. He said many agencies have not met the conditions for unfreezing their budgets, so they have not made requests yet.

Later on Tuesday, Cabinet Spokesperson Lee Hui-chih (李慧芝) added that the executive branch was unable to submit an unfreezing bill to the legislature until now because it was unclear how much was frozen. Lee said the legislature has not confirmed the Cabinet’s calculation.

Lee said this means some agencies will not know when they reach the required spending amount to submit unfreezing applications. She added that some unfreezing requirements ask the Cabinet to submit legal amendments to the legislature, which will take a long time to implement.

Lee said the Cabinet would submit a proposal to unfreeze all funding simultaneously to ensure it could govern. She said the Cabinet also seeks constitutional interpretation over the budget and for amendments to government revenue allocation laws.

The opposition-controlled legislature passed the government budget in January after months of negotiations with the Cabinet. The Cabinet returned the government budget to the legislature, after which it was passed again, and President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) promulgated it last month.