Premier Su Tseng-chang on Wednesday held a press conference on the COVID-19 relief program to explain how the government has already taken action to distribute cash assistance to vulnerable workers and people in need. The monetary aid is designed to provide timely, effective relief to workers and businesses, and help see them through this difficult time, he said.
The premier thanked the Legislature for Tuesday's passage of amendments to the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens, which raised the special budget ceiling by NT$150 billion (US$5 billion). The Executive Yuan is expected to propose a draft bill Thursday on how the expanded budget is to be used, and the premier will appear at a legislative hearing Friday to address questions from lawmakers.
The press event was convened to report to the nation on not just the Executive Yuan's advanced preparations for disease prevention but also its very early initiation of administrative processes for economic relief, Premier Su said. He also showed banking records belonging to several affected businesses and individuals to demonstrate that the government is already distributing emergency cash assistance.
Following industrial relief will come economic stimulus, the third phase of Taiwan's response plan. The stimulus phase will be implemented one step at a time to hopefully achieve results as outstanding and internationally acclaimed as the nation's coronavirus containment efforts have been, he said.