Cabinet proposes supplemental budget: defense upgrade, raise elderly farmer and social welfare subsidies.

The Executive Yuan is accelerating its final budget review, and it is expected to formally propose the current year’s supplemental budget at the Executive Yuan meeting scheduled for September 3. The highly anticipated supplement focuses on two main priorities: first, it seeks to strengthen national defense autonomy and overall defense capability in response to the severe geopolitical and regional security situation; second, it aims to meet society’s expectations for caring for grassroots citizens and vulnerable groups by adjusting professional allowances for military, public, and teaching personnel, and by raising allowances for senior farmers and various social‑welfare benefits. The proposal demonstrates the government’s dual emphasis on defense security and social welfare.

Sources say that because the supplemental budget covers a wide range of items with far‑reaching implications, the Executive Yuan and related ministries are currently in a final, intensive phase of inter‑departmental coordination and data verification. In terms of defense needs, the changing global defense landscape and continued military pressure from the mainland require Taiwan to show a firm commitment to self‑defense. The supplemental budget is intended to accelerate national‑defense‑autonomy projects, modernise armed‑forces equipment, and enhance combat power. This is not only a matter of national security but also essential for maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, so refining defense projects remains the government’s top priority in resource allocation.

Beyond bolstering defense capability, caring for grassroots military, public, and teaching personnel, as well as farmers and vulnerable citizens, remains a core value of the Executive Yuan’s policy. In recent years Taiwan has faced inflation and rising prices, increasing the burden on grassroots citizens and social‑welfare recipients. To realise social justice and maintain morale in the civil service, the government plans to raise professional allowances for military, public, and teaching personnel, thereby motivating the administrative team. At the same time, increasing allowances for veteran farmers and for those receiving social‑welfare support demonstrates concrete actions to strengthen the social safety net.

However, proposing a supplemental budget often triggers discussion and scrutiny of fiscal discipline. While drafting the supplement, financial authorities must precisely assess fiscal inflows and outflows, ensuring that balancing defense needs and social welfare does not overly burden long‑term fiscal sustainability. This tests the administrative team’s resource‑allocation wisdom and scheduling ability. The amounts of each budget item, their priority order, and the methods of raising funds will be points of strict scrutiny and intense debate in the Legislative Yuan.

As the Executive Yuan meeting on September 3 approaches, the highly‑anticipated supplemental budget will reveal its full details. The budget reflects Taiwan’s current external security threats and internal welfare needs, and it clearly shows the priority order in the national development blueprint. Whether the supplemental budget can pass the Executive Yuan meeting, be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for review, and ultimately gain consensus for rapid implementation will be a key indicator of Taiwan’s political‑economic development and government performance.

Source: Central News Agency