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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Relief fund for restaurants to get boost
People yesterday eat at a food court in New Taipei City’s Sindian District, with acrylic partitions on the tables to curb the spread of COVID-19. Photo: CNA
HIGH DEMAND: The initial NT$600 million relief fund for restaurants affected by the pandemic nearly ran out in five days as thousands of businesses applied for aid
By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
The government is to inject NT$3 billion （US$101.3 million） into a newly established relief fund for restaurants severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the original budget is running low, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry unveiled the NT$600 million relief fund on Monday last week to subsidize restaurants that are struggling to stay afloat as an increasing number of local COVID-19 infections scare away customers.
The ministry has received 6,000 applications within five days of the program’s launch, approaching the budget’s limit.
“Generally speaking, the Cabinet supports the [budget] increase. We hope the size will reach that scale [NT$3 billion] this week,” Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua （王美花） told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Computex show in Taipei yesterday.
With the injection of funds, the ministry would be able to keep accepting new applications for review, Wang said.
The ministry would pay 50 percent of overall promotional spending once the applications are approved.
Sales at restaurants, beverage stores and food service providers dipped 5.8 percent year-on-year and 11.1 percent month-on-month to NT$62 billion last month, snapping six consecutive months of growth, ministry data showed.
Restaurants bore the brunt last month, with sales falling 6.9 percent annually to NT$51.2 billion. That represented a monthly decline of 11.9 percent.
A surge of 5.6 percent in dining costs also deterred people from eating at restaurants, Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie （黃偉傑） said by telephone on Monday.
Restaurant sales are expected to fall to between NT$49.6 billion and NT$51.1 billion this month, representing an annual decline of 1.2 percent or an increase of 1.8 percent, Huang said.
The figures take into account a lower comparison base in May last year, when the nation entered a large-scale lockdown, he said.
In the first four months of this year, sales at restaurants, beverage stores and institutional food service providers rose 2.4 percent year-on-year to NT$279.5 billion, ministry data showed. Restaurant sales rose 1.8 percent annually to NT$234.6 billion during the period.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
