Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Retired junior public servants will soon see a nice boost in their savings, as a law increasing the amount of money they can deposit into an 18 percent preferential interest rate account comes into effect this year.

The move, passed by the legislature last year, was criticized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday as unfair and unnecessary as interest rates in public banks continue to hover below 2 percent, despite a 0.125 interest rate hike announced last week by the central bank.

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) yesterday said the chances that a review committee that has already rejected proposals for a referendum on a controversial trade pact with China would treat a fourth and final bid on the matter any differently were very slim.

Speaking outside a hearing held to determine the legality of his latest proposal to turn the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) over to a public vote, Huang said the committee would likely turn it down when it reviews it tomorrow, despite the fact that referendums are a “basic right.”