Hello.
It’s set to be an exciting day today. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong will deliver Singapore’s Budget 2024 statement at 3.30pm in parliament. Follow our coverage here.
There’s been some talk if it will be a “General Election budget”, considering Singapore’s impending leadership transition. Whether government support is ultimately seen as help with cost of living or goodies before an election, we should pay attention to how it advances the shared national vision, says the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s Terence Ho.
On Wednesday, Indonesians voted for their next president. Exit polls indicate that Prabowo Subianto won almost 60 per cent of the vote, leading the former army general to declare victory although his rivals have not yet conceded.
Mr Prabowo campaigned on the promise to uphold President Joko Widodo’s policies. Indeed, Jokowi’s influence would persist via his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who would serve as vice president. If the final results confirm Mr Prabowo’s win, Indonesians can expect an echo of Jokowi’s leadership in the next five years, says analyst Dedi Dinarto.
Meanwhile, DBS has cut CEO Piyush Gupta’s variable pay by 30 per cent, delivering on its promise to hold senior management accountable for the bank’s repeated digital disruptions last year. While the DBS board has shown it is prepared to exercise discretion in cutting its CEO’s pay, there is room for banks here to improve transparency regarding senior management remuneration, says NUS corporate governance expert Mak Yuen Teen.
We hope you enjoy our selection of commentaries this week.
Erin Low
Deputy Editor, Commentary
