Hello.
It’s been a week since Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong delivered his Budget 2024 speech last Friday (Feb 16).
Generous but no overly so, addressing immediate concerns yet investing ahead, Budget 2024 was the first instalment in remaking Singapore, one Budget at a time, says SMU associate professor of law Eugene Tan.
Announced CPF changes can have incremental but meaningful effects on retirement adequacy, says the Institute of Policy Studies’ Christopher Gee while the load for first-time home buyers will also be lightened with new property tax changes, says NUS Business School’s Sing Tien Foo.
As technological changes bring about “more churn in the economy”, as Mr Wong said, there is concern more workers will lose their jobs in the coming months. Retrenchments are rising in Singapore, and only the paranoid will survive, says lecturer Ian YH Tan. The SkillsFuture upgrade may be just what Singaporeans need to take upskilling seriously, says NTU’s Chua Yeow Hwee.
Still, the size of the cost-of-living relief suggests long-term focus on economic resilience, says the Institute of Policy Studies’ Clara Lee. To be able to spend, the government must have sufficient and sustainable revenue sources. Amid major changes in international tax rules under BEPS 2.0, the challenge will be to maintain Singapore’s main revenue source as public spending increases, says NUS Business School’s Simon Poh .
We hope you enjoy our selection of commentaries this week.
Alison Jenner
Supervising Editor, Commentary
