SINGAPORE, Feb 18 — Singapore has tabled an expansionary 2019 Budget today, with total expenditure for its ministries at S$80.3 billion (S$1=RM3.01), 1.6 per cent higher than last year.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said the budget position remained expansionary with a basic deficit of S$7.1 billion.
He said the republic had also set aside funds to meet Singaporeans’ long-term needs, including S$6.1 billion for the Merdeka Generation Package and S$5.1 billion for long-term care support.
“On the whole, we expect an overall budget deficit of S$3.5 billion, or 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP),” he said when presenting the Singapore government’s Budget Statement for financial year 2019 in Parliament here.
Heng said the country had sufficient fiscal surplus accumulated over this term of government to fund the overall deficit in 2019 and there would be no draw on past reserves.
Reviewing last year's budget position, the minister said for financial year 2018, the Singapore government expected an overall budget surplus of S$2.1 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP.
“This is a S$2.7 billion increase from the $S0.6 billion deficit forecast a year ago. This was due to the unexpected two-year suspension of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail project and higher-than-expected stamp duty collections,” he said.
In this year’s budget, Heng said the Singapore government would continue to invest a significant share of its resources of about 30 per cent of total expenditure in 2019 to support the country’s efforts in defence, security, and diplomacy.
“This spending is significant but indispensable. We will invest more, if the need arises, to protect the sovereignty of Singapore and the well-being of Singaporeans,” he said.
Earlier, Heng also touched on Singapore-Malaysia bilateral relations.
He said although a couple of issues had surfaced recently with Malaysia, Singapore had worked through difficult bilateral issues with its neighbours in the past, based on mutual respect and common interests, and in accordance with international laws and norms.
“Singapore will continue to seek to resolve issues in the same spirit,” he added.
Singapore and Malaysia are currently in the midst of resolving bilateral issues related to maritime and airspace. — Bernama
