Taiwan’s KMT proposes NT$10,000 cash handout amid AI-driven growth

Taiwan is riding a wave of AI-fueled economic growth so strong that legislators want to start writing checks. A proposal to distribute NT$10,000 (roughly $316) to each eligible resident has cleared its first reading in the legislature, backed by 23 Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers. The price tag: an estimated NT$236 billion. The Executive Yuan, led by Premier Cho Jung-tai, has pushed back against the plan, arguing that fiscal surpluses should go toward paying down national debt or funding infrastructure rather than potentially stoking inflation. The AI engine behind the numbers The island’s first quarter of 2026 delivered a growth rate of 14.55%, the highest quarterly expansion in 48 years. Full-year forecasts for 2026 have been revised upward to a range of 9.64% to 11.05%. Global demand for AI semiconductors has exploded, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) sits at the center of that supply chain. TSMC fabricates the advanced chips that power everything from large language models to autonomous vehicles. President Lai Ching-te has leaned into this tailwind with substantial AI infrastructure investments, positioning Taiwan as an indispensable node in the global technolog...