115th fiscal year military procurement special budget passes third reading; only 2 million NTD cut from 8.8 billion

The Legislative Yuan passed the "115th Fiscal Year Central Government National Security and Asymmetric Warfare Enhancement Plan Procurement Special Budget" in its third reading today. The budget was reduced by only 2 million NTD in operating expenses, with the remainder approved as proposed, totaling 8.810571 billion NTD. The Legislative Yuan passed the "Special Act for National Security and Asymmetric Warfare Enhancement Plan Procurement" on the 8th, setting a budget ceiling of 300 billion NTD for the first batch of military procurement and 480 billion NTD for the second, to be compiled on a one-year, one-term basis. The Executive Yuan must submit a special report within one month of the act's passage, and after obtaining the Legislative Yuan's consent, compile the budget and submit it to the Legislative Yuan within two months. On the 19th, the Legislative Yuan invited Premier Cho Jung-tai and heads of relevant ministries to present a special report on the budget compilation and approved the first batch of procurement. The Executive Yuan held an extraordinary meeting on the 20th to pass the budget, proposing a total requirement of approximately 294.99 billion NTD, with 8.8 billion NTD allocated for this year. On the afternoon of the 20th, after Premier Cho's report and questioning, Legislative Yuan President Han Kuo-yu announced that the budget would be referred to the Finance Committee and relevant committees for review. The Finance, Foreign Affairs, and National Defense Committees held a joint meeting on the 27th. Ultimately, lawmakers spent 40 minutes reviewing the budget, cutting 2 million NTD in operating expenses, and authorizing the Ministry of National Defense to adjust the items accordingly; no other budget items were deleted or frozen. The Legislative Yuan passed the budget in its third reading today without objection from ruling or opposition parties. The total expenditure of 8.812571 billion NTD was reduced by 2 million NTD to 8.810571 billion NTD, all of which will be funded by debt issuance.