Kuomintang legislator Lai Shibao. (File photo)
[Reporter Chen Zhengyu/Taipei Report] Seven committees including Finance of the Legislative Yuan held a joint meeting today (4th) to review the supplementary budget for the 2015 central government general budget. Kuomintang legislator Lai Shibao criticized CNPC and Taipower for taking advantage of the war in the Middle East for "taking advantage of the situation", so he advocated deleting the budget by 50 billion yuan each. In this regard, Minister of Economic Affairs Gong Mingxin emphasized that the government's absorption of energy costs will help stabilize prices; Taipower Chairman Tsang Wensheng also pointed out that this year alone the electricity burden for people's livelihood will exceed 75 billion yuan. Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wu Bingrui blasted that if the supplementary budget is not passed and oil and electricity prices rise, "it will be the fault of the Legislative Yuan! Not the Executive Yuan."
During the inquiry, Lai Shibao pointed out that CNPC had lost about 10.3 billion yuan as of September, and it was estimated to be about 20 billion yuan for the whole year, but the government requested a capital increase of 233.8 billion yuan; Taipower has accumulated losses of about 360 billion yuan, and this year it has lost about 16 billion yuan, and it still requires a large additional budget. He believes that the capital increase should be calculated year by year, and old losses cannot be made up at once. He criticized the General Accounting Office for deleting 470 billion yuan and then asking for an additional 600 billion yuan, which is too much to bully the Legislative Yuan. Therefore, he advocated that PetroChina and Taipower each delete 50 billion yuan, which is "very reasonable."
Gong Mingxin clarified on the spot that energy cost absorption this year has exceeded 100 billion yuan. Zeng Wensheng further explained that Taipower has substantial and urgent funding needs. Taipower has not planned a capital increase in 2014 and has urgent funding needs. The electricity burden for people's livelihood exceeds 75 billion yuan. We cannot just look at the loss figures in the first few months of this year.
Wu Bingrui, who followed up the inquiry, said that in the past three times, the administrative department allocated NT$100 billion to Taipei Power, but none of them was approved. State-owned enterprises absorb costs due to policies, and the government should be responsible. If the budget is not met and the price of oil and electricity increases, "it is the Legislative Yuan! Not the Executive Yuan." Tsang Wensheng confirmed that a total of 300 billion yuan has not been received, and Taipower has accumulated losses of more than 300 billion yuan. This subsidy is only to absorb costs this year, not to make up for previous losses.
Gong Mingxin said that an additional budget of 180.9 billion yuan was allocated to stabilize the prices of oil, electricity and barreled gas. According to the General Accounting Office, international oil prices rose by more than 10%, which will push up the consumer price index (CPI) by more than 0.24 percentage points. Through stabilizing prices, the annual CPI growth rate this year will be maintained at about 1.94%. CNPC’s capital increase of 233.8 billion yuan is to support the 7 receiving stations and 3 pipelines required to add 25 large natural gas units in the next 10 years. CNPC is short of funds due to accumulated losses of about 100 billion yuan.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chung Jia-bin asked that the monthly electricity price for residential electricity consumption below 120 kilowatt-hours was 2.1 yuan per kilowatt hour in 2004 and 1.78 yuan per kilowatt-hour in 2025. The price for electricity consumption below 330 kilowatt-hours in summer has also dropped from 2.73 yuan to 2.55 yuan. If Taiwan's residential and industrial electricity are charged according to Korean electricity prices, will Taipower lose money or make a profit?
Zeng Wensheng said that electricity prices are determined by the review committee. According to Taipower’s estimates, the electricity costs for people’s livelihood absorbed since the Russia-Ukraine war will exceed 300 billion yuan in 2026. He assessed that if Taiwan charges electricity prices in line with South Korea from 2020, the accumulated surplus in recent years may exceed NT$500 billion; if Taiwan charges electricity prices in line with South Korea in 2025, it is also estimated that there will be a surplus of NT$261 billion.
Li Kunze, a legislator of the Democratic Progressive Party, is concerned about the rise in oil prices caused by the situation in the Middle East. The Ministry of Transport has prepared an additional budget of more than 2.58 billion yuan for oil price subsidies. The subsidies have been put on the road first. However, the aviation industry subsidies have not been allocated to China National Petroleum Corporation as of the end of August, and about 350 million yuan has yet to be written off for taxis. Wu Shengyuan, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, confirmed that the budget cannot be used because the budget has not yet been passed, and currently the main request is to ask China Petroleum Corporation to advance the payment. Li Kunze demanded that subsidies and write-offs be put in place as soon as possible to prevent fares from being affected by oil prices.
