Budget debate will place spotlight on Singapore government’s role

Budget debate will place spotlight on Singapore government’s role

By Asha Popatlal,
SINGAPORE : Is the government taking too much? Or giving too little?

These are among some of the questions that will have to be discussed during the two-week Budget debate in Parliament starting from Monday.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said this in response to reporters’ queries at a community event on Saturday.

There has been a lot of feedback from both households and businesses since the Budget was announced.

Businesses are naturally concerned about the cost situation and the Finance Minister felt there will be debate on the appropriate role of government - whether they are doing too much or too little.

Households too will have similar concerns.

Mr Tharman said: “We have to decide what we expect to see in a Budget - in terms of whether we should be providing households with more assistance, how often this assistance should be provided? And it ultimately boils down to the type of society we want to have. Government has to play a role but how much of a role? These are some of the questions that will arise.”

Source : Channel NewsAsia  - 24 Feb 2008

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