TODAY’s brief, Wednesday, March 4

Budget debate resumes

The Budget debate continues today, after 25 Members of Parliament rose to speak yesterday, with some raising concerns about the Government’s fiscal sustainability, given that the projected spike in social spending coincides with a moderating economy. Last week, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam unveiled a Budget that among other things, laid out more support for Singaporeans’ retirement needs via a new Silver Support Scheme and tweaks to the Central Provident Fund system.

All eyes on COE, after Cat A fell in the last exercise

The first Certificate of Entitlement (COE) bidding exercise of the month wraps today. Bidding closed mixed in the last bidding exercise in February, with premiums for Category A cars falling to S$57,199, from S$62,002. Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B fell to S$66,751 from S$70,890. Open category premiums fell to S$67,901 from S$71,921. On the other hand, premiums for commercial vehicles, rose to S$53,202 from S$52,101. Motorcycle premiums also went up, rising to S$5,800 from S$5,504.

Members of Bali Nine move closer to execution

Members of the so-called “Bali Nine”, convicted of trying to smuggle heroin from Indonesia, are to be moved from their prison to the Indonesian island of Nusakambangan as early as today, but the date of their executions is yet to be decided, officials have said. Earlier Tuesday, Bali’s chief prosecutor, Momock Bambang Samiarso, said that within two days he planned to send Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, along with two others, to the island where they were due to be executed. Mr Samiarso said the prison was ready to take them. But his information conflicted with that of attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo, who is in charge of the executions. Mr Prasetyo Tuesday he was still waiting for a report on preparations at the island prison in the next couple of days. So far, all plans Indonesian officials have announced for the executions have been delayed.

China opens CPPCC meeting with corruption warning

A leading Chinese politician called on officials to uphold standards of moral behaviour at the start of the annual meeting of China’s political body, which was overshadowed by corruption probes involving some senior members. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, also urged delegates to be more accepting of different opinions and not to make “extreme remarks” as the annual meeting began in Beijing.

He said CPPCC delegates should be self-motivated to “maintain the positive image of CPPCC committee” and “strictly abide by political rules”. Several top leaders who were CPPCC members, including vice-chairmen Su Rong and Ling Jihua – a one-time top aide of former president Hu Jintao – have been implicated in the massive anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping.

Manchester City eyes win against Leicester City

Following their loss at Liverpool over the weekend and their Champions League defeat to Barcelona, Premier League champions Manchester City will be looking to get back to winning ways against bottom-side Leicester City at the Etihad. Under-fire City manager Manuel Pellegrini knows his side can ill afford another defeat could seriously hurt their chances of retaining their league crown. The match is one of seven Premier League matches to be played on Wednesday (Thursday morning, Singapore time).

Weather forecast

Tomorrow’s weather is expected to be warm, with showers mainly over western Singapore in the late afternoon. The temperature is expected to range between 25°C and 34°C.