Premier Su Tseng-chang on Thursday hosted a press conference together with the heads of responsible ministries and agencies to introduce to the public the government's new "quintuple stimulus voucher" program. Like last year's "triple stimulus voucher" program that brought impressive benefits to the economy, this year's new vouchers are anticipated to generate NT$200 billion (US$7.2 billion) in economic stimulus. Not only will the new vouchers be easier to get, easier to use, and provide even greater stimulus effect, but they will also achieve greater results compared to last year's voucher program, said the premier.
With the ever-present threat of new coronavirus variants, the government has been fortunate that the collective efforts of the people to rigorously follow epidemic prevention directives have brought the outbreak under control, Premier Su said. Even so, the government continues with an aggressive campaign, making plans to aid affected demand-driven industries, the service sector and the livelihoods of individual workers. Economic stimulus will also kick in as the situation settles.
Thanks to the hard work of the people and industry, Taiwan has performed well economically, said the premier. Taiwan logged an impressive growth rate of 8.34 percent in the first half of 2021, and the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics is forecasting an annual growth rate of 5.88 percent for the entire year, which will mark the best record in 11 years.
Given the collective success of the people of Taiwan in maintaining a strong economy, all are eligible to share in the benefits of growth. Any citizen born before April 30, 2022, foreign spouse, permanent foreign resident or accredited diplomat can register to receive and make use of the quintuple stimulus vouchers.
The quintuple stimulus vouchers will be available in digital or paper form. To use the digital form, people can register the vouchers to their credit cards, electronic payment cards and mobile payment apps starting September 22, and begin consumption on October 8. As for the paper form, people can order the vouchers at 15,000 convenience stores nationwide starting September 25 and pick up the vouchers starting October 8. Additionally, starting October 4 consumers can call or use the post office website to register for the vouchers and pick up at any of 1,299 post offices across the nation beginning October 12. The vouchers may be used through April 30, 2022.
The official website for the quintuple stimulus vouchers (5000.gov.tw) will go live soon to provide easy access for the public. Government ministries will also be rolling out their own vouchers, such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs' "good eats vouchers," the Ministry of Culture's "arts fun vouchers," the Council of Agriculture's "agricultural travel vouchers," the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' "national travel vouchers," the Ministry of Education's "sports vouchers," the Hakka Affairs Council's "Hakka village vouchers," the Council of Indigenous Peoples' "indigenous vouchers," and the National Development Council's "local revitalization vouchers."