Taiwan authorities want to distribute part of economic boom revenues to citizens

Taiwan authorities plan to pay each citizen NT$10,000 (about US$300) in 2027. In total, the direct payment program in the draft state budget will require NT$235.7 billion, or about US$7.4 billion.

President Lai Ching-te said this after discussing the next year's central budget draft with the government again, reports Taipei Times.

According to the president, even after including the general cash payment in the budget, the authorities expect to maintain balanced revenues and expenditures and not increase net government debt.

The payment was called a 'dividend from AI'

The decision on new assistance is explained by much better than expected economic indicators. Lai said that Taiwan's economic growth in the first half of 2026 was 14.15% - the best result for the same period in half a century.

The full-year 2026 economic growth forecast was raised from 9.64% to 11.05%. If the forecast comes true, it will be the highest growth rate in 39 years.

President named the semiconductor industry, information and communication equipment manufacturing, and technology supply chains as the main drivers. Demand for artificial intelligence systems, high-performance computing, and cloud services increases exports, orders, and investments.

Back in May, Taiwan's official statistics agency forecast GDP growth of 9.64% in 2026 and explained the economic acceleration, in particular, by high external demand for AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and electronics.

Lai called the planned payments an opportunity to give the entire population part of the so-called 'AI dividend' - the benefit from the technological and economic boom.

When the money can be paid

So far, it is a draft budget, not an already approved payment. To launch the program, the budget must go through parliamentary procedures and be finally approved by the Legislative Yuan.

A government representative told Taipei Times that if parliament passes the budget in third reading by the end of 2026, citizens may receive the money before the Chinese New Year celebrations in 2027.

Taiwan already has experience with such payments. In 2025, the government also introduced a one-time assistance of NT$10,000 per person. Several methods were provided for receiving it - bank transfer, receipt through an ATM or post office, and automatic crediting for certain categories of the population.

The current initiative is a new payment proposed to be financed from the 2027 budget.

What else Taiwan will increase spending on

In addition to direct payments to the population, the president named five main directions for the future budget. Among them are support for families and children, increase in defense spending, development of artificial intelligence and technologies, infrastructure projects, and additional funding for local government.

They plan to allocate NT$373 billion for family policy. In particular, the budget should include new support for children from birth to 18 years old. Earlier, Lai had already announced his intention to expand state assistance for families with children.

Taiwan's total defense spending, including regular and special budgets, should for the first time reach NT$1.12 trillion and exceed 3% of GDP. Earlier, the authorities identified increasing defense spending to more than 3% of GDP as one of the key tasks for the next budget period.

Another NT$229.2 billion is planned for technology programs, of which NT$40.6 billion is for new large-scale AI infrastructure projects. They plan to spend NT$728.8 billion on transport, water supply, flood protection, and other infrastructure.

Source materials: Taipei Times, DGBAS