On Budget 2024 and how much is enough

Each February, Singapore households and businesses look out for the Singapore Budget. 

It’s a fixture in the national calendar. The Singapore government looms large over everyday life, and Singaporeans in turn expect a lot from the elected People’s Action Party government in responding to their needs. 

This need for greater support reflects challenges from an uncertain economic environment and their effects on critical life stages, says Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s Terence Ho. Raising a family, putting food on the table, and having enough in old age is tough, but the aid from this Budget to address social needs is comprehensive in scope, he explains.

Another case in point: immediate help for high costs of living, which saw a further $1.9 billion injection into the Assurance Package announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong during his Budget Statement on Friday. Inflation has been persistently stubborn, staying above the 2 percent mark, a target for many central banks.

Overall, this is a “buffet Budget”, says the Straits Times’ Vikram Khanna, with something for everyone. The uptake really depends on the appetite of its consumers. This is non-trivial when small businesses lacking expertise might find it challenging to utilise government schemes, says CEO of the Singapore Business Federation Kok Ping Soon.

Vouchers for young couples waiting for their BTOs could also encourage more to have babies earlier, but will this move the needle on Singapore’s dismal birth rates? Researcher Tan Poh Lin lays out the obstacles.

People will certainly be watching for more implementation of Forward Singapore initiatives, expected to cost a whopping $40 billion in all by 2030. There is anticipation over financial support for the involuntarily unemployed, as economic restructuring proceeds apace. Observers will also be judging if the interventions can be social multipliers.

The Finance Minister is often a popular figure, likened to a “God of Fortune” who can answer people’s wishlists possibly because (a) he announces handouts, assistance and help for people and firms each Budget and (b) the Budget often coincides with the Chinese New Year festivities, where people express hopes for prosperity and good fortune.

But as government revenue comes under pressure, making accurate estimates of how much Singapore has to fund future Budgets difficult to achieve, this job will be a tougher one. So we must have more engines of revenues, not fewer, in order to ensure fiscal sustainability, says tax expert Simon Poh.

Stay tuned to our Budget coverage at the Straits Times Opinion desk. And meanwhile, here’s a round-up of our most read opinion pieces in recent weeks.

Cheers,

Lin Suling

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