TAIWAN'S DPP HOPES JOB-BOOSTING BUDGET CLEARS LEGISLATURE.

TAIPEI, June 1 Asia Pulse - Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus said it hopes that the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan can pass before its recess the NT$78.4 billion (US$2.25 billion) budget plan for creating new jobs and expanding public construction.

Chen Ching-chun, a DPP caucus spokesman, said the package was designed to boost the domestic economy which has been battered by the SARS outbreak.

"We hope the budget plan can clear the Legislature before the current session ends on June 6," Chen said.

With the recess for the current legislative session only one week away, Chen called on the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) to support the public works and public service supplementary budget worth NT$7.84 billion aimed at creating short-term jobs to bring down the rising unemployment rate in Taiwan.

The budget is also aimed at revitalizing the domestic economy through the expansion of public construction projects, Chen said. Noting that the ruling and opposition parties have reached a consensus over the proposed budget, Chen voiced the hope that the legislative caucuses of the KMT and the PFP will support it to avoid exacerbating the worsening economy in the wake of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Chen said the Legislative Yuan approved a special SARS control and relief statue in early May with the unanimous support of the ruling and opposition parties. About one month after ...