Taiwan's central government budget for the coming year passed the legislature a month ago but still has not reached the president, leaving it unable to take effect — a delay with no recent precedent.

• The budget cleared its final reading on August 14 but has not been sent to the Cabinet or the president's office, so it cannot become law.
• Legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu says he will forward it to the president only before the next session opens on September 29.
• Over the past 25 years, most budgets went from final passage to presidential sign-off within a month; in 2018 it took just over a week.
• This budget was already the latest ever passed, sitting in the legislature for nearly a year before its final reading.
• The previous year's budget also stalled under the same speaker, taking about two months from passage to sign-off.

Outlook: Government spending stays in limbo at least until late September, and the standoff between the opposition-controlled legislature and the Lai administration looks set to continue.