TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's government on Thursday (Sept. 9) unveiled its new stimulus vouchers and announced that they will be officially available on Oct. 8.

Taiwan is launching its beefed-up “Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers” (振興五倍券) program to help stimulate Taiwan's economy as it recovers from a soft lockdown over the summer. Unlike last year's “Triple Stimulus Vouchers” (振興三倍券) that were worth NT$3,000 (US$101) each but required NT$1,000 to acquire, these vouchers are worth NT$5,000 and will be free of charge.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) revealed the new vouchers, which come in a set of 10 notes divided into three denominations, including three NT$1,000 bills, two NT$500 bills, and five NT$200 bills. Su announced that the pre-orders can begin on Sept. 22 and the vouchers will become available for use on Oct. 8.

Su presenting new vouchers. (Cabinet photo)

The vouchers can be used like cash at all stores as well as at art exhibitions, at sporting events, and for travel activities. They cannot be used to pay taxes, utility fees, traffic tickets, credit card bills, or administrative fees.

As for online purchases, the vouchers will be made available for use on domestic e-commerce sites, but foreign e-commerce sites will be excluded. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that stores are not required to provide change to customers for the vouchers, but can do so at their discretion.

The three denominations of the new stimulus vouchers. (Cabinet photo)