Taiwan Legislature Passes NT$48 Billion 2026 Budget Cuts as Cabinet Warns of Operational Damage
Updated
Updated · Focus Taiwan · Aug 15
Taiwan Legislature Passes NT$48 Billion 2026 Budget Cuts as Cabinet Warns of Operational Damage
2 articles · Updated · Focus Taiwan · Aug 15
Summary
Taiwan's opposition-controlled Legislature approved NT$48 billion in cuts to the 2026 central government budget, trimming proposed spending by 1.689% despite strong objections from the DPP-led Cabinet.
The package cut NT$10 million from President Lai Ching-te's confidential state affairs fund and froze another NT$20 million, while also eliminating funding for the Cabinet's human rights and transitional justice department.
It also halved the budget of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee and cut NT$684 million from agencies' policy-promotion funds, including Cabinet and Culture Ministry requests.
KMT caucus leader Fu Kun-chi called the reductions a gesture of "great goodwill," saying negotiations pared back more than 1,700 proposed cuts and left 98.4% of the Cabinet's budget intact.
The Cabinet called the cuts irrational, warning they could disrupt government operations, weaken anti-disinformation work and leave contract workers' salaries uncertain after a NT$52.54 million hit to the information services budget.