Taiwan

Government issued shopping vouchers intended to stimulate the Taiwanese economy have done precisely that, with retailers reporting spectacular growth in daily sales.

Three major hypermarkets, Carrefour, RT-Mart and Geant released data showing sales the day the vouchers were handed out tripled normal Sunday trading levels, reported the China Post.

Carrefour came out in the sales lead with NT$600m (US$17.8m) in sales, with RT-Mart second with NT$450m (US$13.3m) and Geant over NT$300m (US$8.9m).

The buying spree extended from the hypermarkets through supermarkets and traditional markets.

The vouchers were worth NT$500 each (US$14.81), and are part of a package designed to pump NT$86bn (US$2.5bn) into the slowing economy.