TAIPEI: Taiwan's parliament on Friday approved a bill to spend Tw$13.9 billion ($463 million) on social welfare payments, in a move likely to boost consumption and spur growth as the global economy stutters.
Under the bill, which come a month and a half before parliamentary and presidential elections, more than two million disadvantaged people will see their monthly subsidies rise by up to 33 percent, the interior ministry said.
Disabled people and aborigines, as well as youth and senior citizens from low-income families, are among the groups likely to benefit from the move, which will take effect from January 2012, according to the ministry.
Observers said the scheme will help boost private consumption, as poor families are more likely to spend the money than to save it, in turn stimulating the island's economy.
The government recently downgraded its forecast for growth in 2012 to 4.19 percent from previously 4.38 percent, as the export-dependent economy faces sluggish demand from key European and American markets.
The measure is also likely to address an emerging wealth gap in traditionally egalitarian Taiwan.
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