Budget 2014: FY2013 Budget surplus expected at S$3.9 billion, higher than expected

SINGAPORE — The Republic’s Budget for FY2013 is expected to record an overall surplus of S$3.9 billion, or 1.1 per cent of the GDP for FY2013, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam today (Feb 21).

This is higher than the surplus of S$2.4 billion, or 0.7 per cent of the GDP, that the Government had budgeted a year ago, said Mr Tharman, who is also Finance Minister, during the Budget Speech.

He said a few factors have led to the higher surplus, such as temporary delays in the implementation of public infrastructure projects. Revenues were also boosted by higher vehicle quota premium collections, and stamp duty collections did not fall as much as expected.

“The stronger fiscal surplus in FY2013 was mainly due to cyclical factors,” said Mr Tharman, adding that they will not last and a tighter budget position should be expected in the coming years.

Mr Tharman also said the Singapore’s economy grew 4.1 per cent in 2013, up from 1.9 per cent a year earlier.

The global outlook for this year is uncertain, he said. The Ministry of Trade and Industry expects the economy to grow by 2 to 4 per cent this year.

With the S$8 billion Pioneer Generation package coming out of this year’s budget along with other measures, Singapore is expected to run a budget deficit of S$1.2 billion for FY2014, or about 0.3 per cent of the gross domestic product. “This is close to a balanced budget and will not draw on past reserves as we have sufficient surpluses from the last few years,” Mr Tharman said.