Taiwan’s central bank last month cut its full-year economic growth outlook to 1.92 per cent, from its 2.57 per cent forecast in December.

As the outbreak spread through Europe and the United States in March, the island’s authorities asked local travel companies to stop organising trips to all countries seriously affected, before calling a halt to all tour operations overseas – a ban that the Taiwan Tourism Bureau this week extended until the end of May.

“I have been taking unpaid leave since March after my company failed to secure any tour orders,” travel agent Wang Ting-hai said.

Wang said his company used to focus on organising tours to and from the mainland, but had to shift its focus to Japan and Europe after Beijing suspended tour group visits.

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“Because of the Chinese ban, we had to cancel a number of organised tours planned well ahead of the ban,” Wang said, adding that the coronavirus had made life even more difficult with dozens of travel agencies forced to cancel tours and refund clients because of the outbreak.

“With the government extending the ban on operating any tours to any overseas territories until the end of May, I am afraid my company might be forced to shut down due to growing losses,” he said.

According to the Taipei-based Travel Quality Assurance Association, at least 500 travel agencies will have close down by June, and 3,500 agencies would suffer that fate by the end of the year, if the outbreak continues.

Wang said that under the transport ministry’s plan he will be entitled to receive a monthly subsidy of NT$10,000 (US$332) for three months, in addition to the NT$18,960 subsidy given to each tourism worker in the past month.

Taxi drivers, whose business has declined sharply due to the pandemic, are also entitled to receive monthly NT$10,000 subsidies for three months, according to Lin.

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According to the island’s cabinet, the NT$1.05 trillion aid package will be provided in two phases. The first phase, in place since last month, included NT$100 billion that has been allocated by the government to help fund affected industries, and nearly NT$350 billion in soft loans for them.

A special budget of NT$150 billion is expected to be added to the second phase of the relief package, while the government-owned banks and financial institutions will extend up to NT$700 billion for businesses in need of financing.

Other relief aid covered in the second phase includes NT$150 billion for local workers.

Under the plan, the government will pay subsidies to 1.92 million employees, who will receive 40 per cent of their regular salary for three months, according to Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin.

Affected local businesses will also be given a 30 per cent discount on public utility rates, Kung said.

A hotline for the public to contact the government agencies handling the aid has received more than 4,000 calls per day since it was set up in late March, the economics ministry has said.

As of Friday, Taiwan had reported 382 cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and six deaths. The island has won praise for its early and so far apparently effective measures to control the spread of the disease.