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Individual, collective responsibility needed to support S’pore society: Tharman

SINGAPORE — The Government’s Budget was passed in Parliament today (March 5), as Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam reiterated the need for both individual and collective responsibility to sustainably support Singapore society.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. TODAY file photo

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — The Government’s Budget was passed in Parliament today (March 5), as Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam reiterated the need for both individual and collective responsibility to sustainably support Singapore society.

Wrapping three days of debates over the Budget, Mr Tharman, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, explained the need for economic restructuring while assuring small and medium enterprises that help will be given to support innovation. He also stressed the Government’s commitment to build a fair and inclusive society, citing statistics on social mobility here.

Noting parliamentarians’ concerns about fiscal sustainability as social expenditure increases, Mr Tharman said the Government dips into reserves and invests in a prudent way, and touted the Central Provident Fund (CPF) model as one that ensures future sustainability.

Acknowledging that business costs have gone up due to the scarcity of manpower and land resources, Mr Tharman pointed out that there has been a net total of 20,000 new firms every year — two times more than the preceding five years. Stressing that the Republic is “not (an) economy in crisis,” this has allowed for a phased approach in restricting foreign manpower, while providing extensive monetary support for smaller firms to raise their productivity, he added.

Mr Tharman also noted that social mobility is an growing challenge across developed nations. But in Singapore, among those who started off in the bottom 20 per cent, 14 per cent ended up in the top 20 per cent. In the US, only 7.5 per cent of this group ended up in the top 20 per cent.

At the same time, the spending on academically-weaker students has seen a 2.5 times increase compared to five years ago. Initiatives like Workfare and Pioneer Generation Package also goes towards the needy and elderly, he said.

Mr Tharman also clarified that this year’s budget deficit of S$0.1 billion is due to future investments. He added that the CPF scheme is one that taps on both individual and collective responsibility, so that future generations will not be burdened while vulnerable groups still receive help from the Government.

Rejecting the Workers’ Party suggestion of earlier CPF payouts from 60 years old instead of 65 years old, he said that it is “not a crazy idea but unwise”.

“We will all place greater priority on…the benefits we can get today...than what we will get well into the future”, he said. “We all underestimate how long we will live...that is the human predicament.”

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