TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Legislative Yuan passed the central government budget Friday with cuts totaling NT$48 billion (US$1.49 billion).
It is the first time in history that a central government budget took until Aug. 14 to be approved. The Cabinet first submitted the budget in August 2025, but the opposition KMT and TPP used their majority at the Legislative Yuan to block passage for 350 days, per Liberty Times.
The government proposed annual expenditure of NT$3.34 trillion, but the opposition cut NT$48 billion or 1.689% of the total. Annual revenue totaled NT$3.46 trillion, with the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics still expected to make adjustments.
The legislature also froze Premier Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) salary for the four months from September to December, UDN reported. The salaries for the president and the vice president of the top government watchdog, the Control Yuan, suffered a similar fate.
Earlier Friday, the opposition dropped threats to freeze a NT$44.2 billion plan to develop the drone sector and NT$19.2 billion of related spending. Critics said the opposition action would harm the development of what many observers see as Taiwan’s future growth sector following semiconductors.
