Finance Minister Lawrence Wong expects “positive but slower” growth in Singapore this year due to high inflation and a slowing global economy, headwinds the city-state hopes to address through an expansionary budget designed to help households and businesses.
Unveiling a S$104 billion (US$78.4 billion) spending plan in parliament on February 14, Wong said Singaporeans will have to brace themselves for “a period of relatively higher inflation” that would remain elevated in the city-state at least for the first half of this year. Singapore’s headline inflation rate reached a more than decade-high of 6.1% in 2022, up significantly from 2.3% a year earlier.
Wong, who is also deputy premier and heir apparent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, stressed that while the economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the country’s fiscal position remains tight, compelling the government to step up efforts to trim its budget deficit and raise revenue while pursuing a more targeted approach to aiding lower-income earners.
In what he previously described as his “Valentine’s Day present” to Singaporeans, Wong announced a slew of assistance measures including a S$3 billion ($2.26 billion) boost in subsidies to lower-income households to offset a higher goods-and-services tax (GST). He also announced higher taxes for multinational companies and on high-value properties and cars.
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Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
