预算辩论 · 2024-02-16 · 第 14 届国会
2024财年预算展望与挑战
Annual Budget Statement
议员质询全球经济不确定性及地缘政治风险对新加坡经济的影响。政府回应指出2023年经济增长虽缓但避免衰退，2024年展望谨慎乐观，强调全球冲突加剧带来的挑战。核心争议在于如何平衡经济增长与地缘政治风险，以及政府财政政策的应对策略。
关键要点
- • 经济增长谨慎乐观
- • 地缘政治风险加剧
- • 全球通胀压力缓解
积极应对经济与地缘风险
加强经济韧性与风险管理
"The post-Cold War era that began in the early 1990s and fostered three decades of peace and stability is over."
参与人员（1）
完整译文（中文）
Hansard 英文原文译文 · 翻译日期：2026-05-02
议长先生：请安静。书记员现在宣读动议通知。
下午3时30分
副总理兼财政部长（黄循财先生）：议长先生，谨此提议，“国会批准政府2024年4月1日至2025年3月31日财政年度的财政政策。”
议长先生，谨此提议，“国会批准政府2024年4月1日至2025年3月31日财政年度的财政政策。”
过去一年并不容易。国际环境动荡不安。全球经济表现低迷。我们的经济增长温和，仅为1.1%，避免了衰退。
我知道许多家庭正感受到生活成本上升的压力。
幸运的是，过去两年经济强劲反弹带来了意外的收入增长。这也是政府能够加强援助措施，减轻家庭负担的原因。
展望2024年，形势喜忧参半。主要经济体整体预计将保持韧性增长。但地缘政治风险依然严峻。欧洲和中东地区战争不断。这些冲突可能危险升级，导致全球能源市场和供应链中断。
幸运的是，也有一些利好因素。全球通胀压力预计将进一步缓解。这可能为主要央行采取更宽松的货币政策提供空间，从而缓解金融状况，支持需求。
全球电子产业预计将复苏。这将促进包括我们的主要贸易伙伴在内的许多区域经济增长。
与此同时，亚洲继续成为全球增长的关键驱动力，区域内机会更加广泛——不仅在中国，也包括印度和东南亚许多地区。
总体而言，我们谨慎乐观，认为2024年将是更好的一年。除了通胀下降，我们预计国内生产总值（GDP）增长将达到1.0%至3.0%。
但前景存在相当大的不确定性，风险偏向下行。国际环境急剧恶化。
始于1990年代初、带来三十年和平与稳定的后冷战时代已经结束。
我们现在进入了一个新的冲突与对抗时代，无法回头。
在这个新世界中，我们可以预期什么？
它将更加暴力。我们已经看到一个不断扩大的有罪不罚区，涉及武装冲突和恐怖主义，全球社会难以轻易解决。
它将更加分裂。因为大国优先考虑国家安全而非经济相互依存，传统合作模式正在瓦解。
它将更加混乱和不可预测。因为应对未来疫情或气候变化等全球问题的意愿和能力都在减弱。
这些是摆在我们面前的严峻现实。在相当长一段时间内，新加坡必须在一个比过去三十年更不稳定、更不利于安全与繁荣的外部环境中运作。
这就是为什么我们启动了“前进新加坡”行动——更新我们的社会契约，保持社会的坚强与团结，并为我们在这个动荡世界中的前进道路制定路线图。
通过“前进新加坡”，我们旨在给予新加坡人更多保障，帮助他们应对当今世界的不确定性；加强我们的凝聚力和团结感；保持社会的和谐。
因为只有作为一个团结的民族，我们才能克服一切困难。
我们可以将每一个挑战转化为机遇，将每一个弱点转化为力量。
我们可以建设一个充满活力、包容、公平、繁荣、韧性强且团结的国家。
我们有一个雄心勃勃的议程来实现这些共同目标。未来几年我们将展开重大计划。其中一些已准备好立即实施。
另一些则需要更多时间研究或制定实施细节。
在本预算案中，我们将推出“前进新加坡”计划的第一批措施。
2024年预算案因此是采取具体步骤，共同建设我们的共享未来。我们将：
（一）解决家庭和企业的紧迫挑战；
（二）追求更好的增长和就业，并为工人终身装备技能；
（三）创造更多平等和流动性路径；
（四）为家庭和长者提供更多保障；
（五）最终，打造一个更强大、更团结的国家。
接下来，我将在演讲中依次谈及这些内容。
新加坡通胀率在过去十多年保持低位。但2022年，随着乌克兰战争爆发，全球能源和食品价格大幅上涨，通胀急剧上升。
尽管价格前所未有地飙升，2022年我们经济仍实现良好增长。因此，那一年收入增长快于通胀，新加坡人的实际生活水平有所提升。
遗憾的是，去年情况并非如此。通胀实际上开始缓和，但经济增长也放缓，导致实际收入下降。
我们早已察觉这一负面趋势的初期迹象。这也是我去年9月推出生活成本支持计划并将保障计划提升至超过100亿新元的原因。
虽然我们预计今年情况将有所改善，但正如我刚才提到的，前景仍存在不确定性。因此，在本预算案中，我将加大对家庭的支持，进一步增强保障计划。
首先，我将为所有新加坡家庭额外发放600新元的社区发展理事会（CDC）购物券。首批300新元将于今年6月底发放，剩余300新元将于明年1月发放。
其次，我将提供200至400新元的生活成本特别现金支付。此项支付将扩展至评估收入不超过10万新元且不拥有超过一套物业的成年新加坡人。
第三，我将为组屋家庭提供额外一次性U-Save水电费回扣，帮助他们应对水电费上涨。符合条件的组屋家庭在2024财政年度可获得相当于常规U-Save回扣两倍半的金额，最高达950新元。这相当于三房和四房组屋住户约四个月的水电费。
第四，我将为组屋提供额外一次性服务与保养费（S&CC）回扣。加上常规S&CC回扣，符合条件的组屋家庭在2024财政年度可获得最多四个月的此类回扣。
保障计划的额外支持总计约19亿新元。[详见附录B-1。]
我们设计保障计划时，确保低收入家庭获得更多支持，也确保大家庭，尤其是有长者和儿童的家庭，获得更多帮助。
举几个例子。
一个有两个年幼子女的四口低收入家庭，在2024财政年度将获得约5500新元的福利，包括现金、医疗储蓄补贴、U-Save和S&CC回扣以及CDC购物券。
一个有两个年幼子女的四口中等收入家庭，将获得约3000新元的福利。
一个有六口人，包括两位长者和两个年幼子女的中等收入大家庭，将获得约8000新元的福利。
先生们，这些都是帮助新加坡人应对生活成本压力的具体措施。请大家放心——我们永远支持你们。[掌声]
除了保障计划，我还将向消费税（GST）券基金注资60亿新元。这兑现了我们通过GST券计划永久减轻中低收入家庭消费税负担的承诺。
企业也需要帮助以应对成本上升。许多公司工资、租金和水电费等开支增加。因此，我将推出企业支持计划，向企业提供13亿新元支持。
首先，企业将在2024评估年度获得50%的企业所得税回扣，最高限额为4万新元。并非所有企业都有盈利，部分企业可能无法受益于此回扣。因此，我将为2023年至少雇佣一名本地员工的企业提供最低2000新元现金补助。
其次，我将加强企业融资计划，帮助新加坡企业满足融资需求。最高营运资金贷款额度将永久提高至50万新元。我还将延长贸易贷款最高额度及政府对项目贷款风险分担的期限至2025年3月31日，以支持国内建筑项目。
第三，我将把“技能未来企业信用”延长一年至2025年6月30日。该信用为符合条件的雇主提供额外支持，帮助他们承担劳动力和业务转型的自付费用。延长后，雇主将有额外一年时间申领未用完的信用额度。
企业支持计划中的措施倾向于鼓励企业进行重组和转型。我鼓励所有企业充分利用这些计划，以便在更具挑战的经营环境中蓬勃发展。[详见附录B-2。]
增强的保障计划和企业支持计划将为新加坡家庭和企业提供短期缓解。这在通胀虽有缓和但仍偏高的困难时期尤为必要。但这不是永久解决方案。长期来看，应对通胀的最佳方式是确保企业和工人提高生产力，且实际收入持续稳定增长。
我们的首要任务是确保经济强劲、创新和充满活力。这对保障所有新加坡人获得良好就业和更好生活至关重要，且必须持续实现。
自独立初期以来，我们屡次克服困难，实现良好经济表现。但在更复杂多变的外部环境下，我们不能自满。
过去几年，有人建议新加坡应放缓发展，不必增长太快。事实上，去年我们的经济增长仅约1%。但如果连续多年增长缓慢，我们将陷入困境。我们将无法改善整体福祉，新加坡人的生活水平将受损，社会服务也难以维持，最终低收入工人和家庭将首当其冲。
因此，我们毫不掩饰追求增长的决心。明确地说，我们并非不计代价地追求增长。由于土地、劳动力和碳排放的限制，我们的增长速度有限。但通过专注于生产力和创新，我们可以推动前沿，未来十年平均每年增长约2%至3%。
鉴于我们的经济发展阶段，这是一个雄心勃勃的目标。但我们必须志存高远，让新加坡不断前进，让人民享有更多机会和更高生活质量。
增长的关键推动力是我们吸引高质量、高价值投资的能力。因为这些项目带来最新技术和能力，并为新加坡人创造优质就业。
迄今为止，我们的投资管道保持健康。尽管去年外部环境充满挑战，经济发展局（EDB）超额完成目标，吸引的投资预计将创造超过2万个新工作岗位。
但投资竞争日益激烈。全球各国政府纷纷推出巨额补贴，吸引战略产业投资。例如，去年11月，日本宣布将拨款2万亿日元（约180亿新元）支持半导体产业。
我们不能与主要经济体进行“竞标战”，但也不能停滞不前。
因此，我们将通过引入新的可退还投资税收抵免，增强投资促进工具。[详见附录C-1。]
这是一种带有可退还现金功能的税收抵免。它将支持高价值和实质性经济活动，包括设立或扩建制造设施；新的创新和研发活动；以及支持绿色转型的活动。
本质上，这项新税收抵免将帮助我们保持竞争力，吸引具备正确技术的全球公司投资，并为新加坡人创造优质就业。
为支持这项及其他投资促进工作，我今年将向国家生产力基金注资20亿新元。
除了吸引新投资，我们还必须巩固现有优势，升级具备竞争力的行业。
这些优势不是偶然形成的，而是经过数十年努力重组和升级经济的结果。我们不仅保持成本竞争力，还提升能力，向价值链上游迈进，以证明在新加坡运营的高溢价合理性。我们通过产业转型地图持续推进这些重组工作。
以半导体为例。新加坡不是全球最便宜的地点，但我们拥有许多优势——卓越的连通性、可靠稳定的营商环境，以及涵盖设计、晶圆制造、组装和测试等价值链环节的众多领先企业。这里的企业虽不生产媒体报道中的最先进3纳米芯片，但在特种芯片和NAND闪存芯片等领域占据一席之地。这些芯片是自动化、5G和电动车的关键支撑，需求旺盛。这就是我们的红点如何成为全球半导体供应链的重要节点——占全球半导体市场超过10%，占全球半导体设备市场20%。
金融业同样如此。我们是亚洲领先的金融中心，支持全球企业。在全球不确定时期，我们以稳定和可信赖著称。主要金融机构积极扩大在新加坡的业务，我们持续吸引投资、资本和人才流入。
因此，无论是先进制造还是高端服务，我们现有的优势都难以被他国复制。但全球竞争格局不断变化，其他国家必然寻求超越我们。因此，在本预算案中，我将拨出资源巩固我们的竞争优势。
我将向金融业发展基金注资20亿新元。这将为新加坡金融管理局（MAS）提供更多资源，充分利用当前机遇，扩大我们在金融服务领域的领先地位——不仅在银行、资本市场、资产管理和保险等核心领域做得更多，还将建设金融科技、绿色和转型金融等新领域的能力。
我将拨出更多资金用于研发，因为这是推动整个经济创新前沿的关键。
2020年，我们启动了“研究、创新与企业2025”（RIE2025）计划，承诺投入250亿新元。
我将再投资30亿新元于RIE2025。这将使我们在研究、创新和企业方面的投资维持在约占GDP的1%。新增资金将用于先进制造、可持续发展、数字经济和医疗保健等国家重点领域的研究及相关投资。
我们的研发投资需要时间转化为具体经济成果。但这正是我们必须采取长期视角的原因。因为这些投资有助于形成关键能力、理念和人才的集聚，增强我们作为知识型和创新驱动经济体的全球竞争力。
除了持续投入研发，我们还需充分发挥技术在关键行业的作用。
人工智能（AI）是一个关键的新兴技术。AI不仅仅是ChatGPT或大型语言模型。它是一种通用技术，类似电力、内燃机、计算机或互联网。它有潜力变革众多行业，提高从药物研发、仓库管理到自动驾驶等多种现有流程的生产力。
新加坡已被公认为AI开发的重要参与者。我们的目标是更进一步——打造新的卓越高峰，并吸引私营部门资源。我们已在《国家人工智能战略2.0》中阐述了相关计划。
为支持该战略并进一步推动AI发展，我将在未来五年投资超过10亿新元，用于AI计算能力、人才培养和产业发展。
部分投资将用于确保新加坡能够获得对AI开发和部署至关重要的先进芯片。
我们还将与新加坡及全球领先企业合作，在本地设立AI卓越中心。我们希望这些中心促进产业合作与创新，推动整个经济创造更大价值。
与此同时，我将拨出额外资源，推动升级我们的全国宽带网络。通过额外投资，我们目标是在本十年下半叶实现大众市场宽带速度达到每秒10吉比特。这是目前大多数家庭宽带速度的10倍。这也确保我们的连接基础设施能够支持人工智能和沉浸式媒体等技术，随着它们在未来变得更加普及。
我们将继续加大投资力度，强化本地企业。
我们正在帮助较小的企业通过预先批准的解决方案利用技术，许多方案针对特定行业的需求量身定制。这使中小企业（SMEs）能够“即插即用”，快速实现更高的效率和生产力提升。
随着企业的发展，其需求将变得更加复杂，尤其是在海外扩展时。我们正在提供更多定制化支持，帮助这些企业扩大规模，并将继续推进这些努力。
企业快速提升的一个途径是与总部设在新加坡的跨国企业（MNEs）合作。跨国企业对希望成为其供应商的公司设定了高标准和要求。我们不能强迫跨国企业只选择本地供应商，但我们可以且将帮助新加坡企业达到高标准，并与跨国企业建立互利共赢的合作关系。
让我分享一个航空航天行业的例子。航空航天零件必须满足严格的制造和安全要求。因此，像劳斯莱斯这样的航空航天制造商在选择合作伙伴时非常挑剔。
本地公司Zincode得到了智能制造联合实验室的支持——这是A*STAR、劳斯莱斯和新加坡航空发动机服务私人有限公司之间的合作。该公司通过该实验室提升了其图像处理能力。结果，它成为劳斯莱斯新加坡制造工厂认可的检验合作伙伴之一。Zincode现已成功获得航空航天领域其他公司的新机会，并从销售增长中受益。
我们希望帮助更多像Zincode这样的公司提升能力，赢得新机会。今天，我们有能力转型伙伴计划（PACT）方案，支持大企业与中小企业在供应商发展和共同创新领域的合作。
我将加强PACT，支持更多领域的合作——包括能力培训、国际化和企业风险投资。通过增强的PACT，我们旨在帮助更多企业融入全球供应链，在海外市场竞争，并成长为各自行业的领导者。
企业要具备竞争力，还需拥抱可持续发展。如今，中小企业有时仍将可持续发展视为额外负担和成本。但绿色发展可以成为竞争优势。因为跨国企业已经在寻求减少碳足迹，并期望其供应商也这样做。换言之，要参与跨国企业的价值链，我们自己的企业必须“具备可持续发展准备”。
因此，我将扩大企业融资计划下绿色贷款的支持范围，帮助更多中小企业采用绿色解决方案。
我还将加强能源效率补助。该补助于2022年推出，针对食品服务、食品制造和零售行业的企业。我将把补助范围扩大到更多行业，包括制造业、建筑业、海事业以及数据中心及其用户。除了补助支持的预先批准节能方案外，我们还将为有更雄心减排计划的企业提供额外支持。[请参见附件C-2。]
贸易与工业部长将在拨款委员会上详细说明此项及其他与可持续发展相关的措施。
我们正采取切实步骤，保持经济竞争力和活力，帮助企业抓住新机遇。我们将不遗余力，确保新加坡作为全球领先经济枢纽之一的地位，以创新、活力和深厚能力著称，为人民提供良好就业和机会。
先生，人才是我们经济活力的关键。我们在人力资本上投入巨大，包括学前教育和基础教育。但学习不能在正规教育结束时停止。这就是我们推出技能未来（SkillsFuture）的原因——系统性支持新加坡人终身重塑技能和提升技能。
如今，新加坡劳动力在技能和技术熟练度方面排名靠前。我们的工人因专业知识在全球市场上享有溢价。但随着技术快速进步，专业知识不断变化。数据录入员和上门推销员等职位数量减少。数据科学家和数字营销师等几十年前不存在的新职位如今需求旺盛。专业知识持续演变。
换言之，机器人和机器不会完全取代人类工作，但会改变专业知识的定义和价值创造方式。因此，我们必须加大对人力资本的投资，帮助工人更新技能，更有效地利用新技术。事实上，全国职工总会（NTUC）和劳工运动一直积极倡导这一点，最近在“前进新加坡”对话中亦是如此。
技能未来启动近十年。政府在继续教育和培训上的支出几乎翻倍，去年达到9亿新元。
如今，每位新加坡人获得500新元的技能未来积分，所有雇主均可获得培训员工的支持。我们还建立了丰富的培训选项，个人享有慷慨补贴。
过去十年我们取得了良好进展，但仍有许多工作要做。终身持续技能提升比以往任何时候都更重要。因此，我们必须坚定地将技能未来确立为社会契约的重要支柱。
优质学习和技能培训不仅仅是参加一两天的课程。工人可能需要数周或数月培训，才能真正重塑技能，尤其是当他们希望转行时。即使留在同一行业，也需定期大量技能注入以保持竞争力。
但我们知道，尤其是40至50岁、有经济和照顾责任的人，长时间请假参加培训并不容易。
因此，我将推出新的技能未来升级计划，更好支持中年工人。我将分享该计划的主要方向，教育部长将在拨款委员会上提供更多细节。[请参见附件D-1。]
首先，我将为所有40岁及以上的新加坡人额外增拨4,000新元的技能未来积分。今年5月，所有40岁及以上的新加坡人将获得此增拨。年轻者无需担心，届时他们满40岁时也将获得增拨。
我们有意让现有的500新元基础积分可用于广泛课程，旨在培养终身学习习惯。
新增的4,000新元积分将更具针对性——限定用于选定的培训项目，这些项目具有更好的就业成果，包括兼职和全日制文凭、后文凭及本科课程，以及渐进工资模型行业的课程。我们希望参与者完成培训后能获得更好的就业前景。
第二，为提供更多再培训选择，我将为所有40岁及以上的新加坡人提供补贴，自2025学年起可在理工学院、工艺教育学院（ITE）和艺术院校攻读另一全日制文凭。
换言之，我们将为每位新加坡人提供第二次教育补贴。即使年轻时已从高等院校毕业，满40岁后仍可回校攻读全日制文凭，且享受补贴。
第三，我将为报名选定全日制课程的40岁及以上新加坡人提供每月培训津贴。
培训津贴相当于其最近12个月平均收入的50%，上限为每月3,000新元。每人终身最多可领取24个月此类津贴。
这将支持技能未来职业转型计划的全程培训，以及大多数高等院校颁发资格证书的一半以上培训时长。
这些变化对工人意味着什么？
以现年40岁的Calvin Li先生为例。他毕业于新加坡理工学院，获电子、计算机与通信工程文凭。
他现任Khoon Engineering项目总监，该公司提供机电服务。通过技能未来升级计划，Calvin将获得4,000新元的技能未来积分增拨。
他可用积分攻读第二个文凭。该文凭学费享受补贴，积分可覆盖补贴后费用的一半以上。如选择全日制学习，他还可获得相当于之前薪资50%、最长两年的每月培训津贴。
先生，我们对技能未来生态系统进行了重大增强。但只有政府、雇主、工人和工会共同努力，真正深化新加坡的终身学习和技能掌握文化，我们才能收获全部成果。这必须成为我们彼此的共同承诺——帮助新加坡人充分发挥潜力，拥有富有成效和意义的职业生涯。
技能未来还有一项举措。我们知道技术变革将带来更多经济动荡。即使整体经济表现良好，某些企业甚至行业可能遭受困境。事实上，没有失败和损失，就不可能拥有充满活力和增长的经济。在某些行业，企业不得不裁员，而其他行业则创造新的更好职位。
我们必须接受这一现实。但这并不意味着对企业裁员造成的痛苦漠不关心。
失业对工人及其家庭是重大打击。被动失业者自然感到压力，急于接受第一份工作。但新工作未必合适。理想情况下，他们应考虑提升技能，寻找符合其能力和天赋的工作。但失业者可能无暇培训或找工作，尤其当他们已在经济上捉襟见肘时。
因此，我们将加大对这类工人的支持。特别是，我们将推出临时经济支持计划，帮助被动失业者在培训或寻找更合适工作期间获得经济援助。
我们必须谨慎设计该计划，包括支持金额及附带条件，以避免其他国家推行失业救济时遇到的弊端。
我们正在制定计划参数，预计今年晚些时候公布更多细节。
我们的经济必须始终为所有人提供机会；成为惠及多数而非少数的经济。这就是为何我们大幅增强技能未来，并支持求职者寻找下一份工作。我们相信每位工人都重要，每位公民都值得关注。我们将装备每位新加坡人，让他们共享经济增长成果。[掌声]
许多发达国家，日益加剧的不平等和社会流动性放缓，破坏了社会凝聚力，造成深刻分裂。这些压力也可能在这里出现。
事实上，我们启动“前进新加坡”对话，正是因为不愿屈服于世界许多地方出现的严峻不平等。通过创造更多通往平等和流动性的路径，我们也为持续增长奠定更好基础——换言之，强劲经济与强大社会相辅相成。
但解决不平等往往说起来容易做起来难。相关思路常伴随意外后果。简单的救济和粗暴措施无法根治贫困。这就是新加坡自始至终开辟自己道路的原因。我们认真研究他国经验，注意其成功与失败之处。我们引入适合自身理念和社会的重大创新。这就是新加坡方式。
过去十年，我们在提升低薪工人和缩小工资差距方面取得进展。以基尼系数衡量的收入不平等降至二十年来最低水平。
工作补贴和渐进工资是提升低薪工人的关键策略。这些策略奏效。我将做出若干调整，确保其持续发挥作用。[请参见附件E-1。]
首先，我将从明年起加强工作补贴收入补助计划。
我将把合资格收入上限从2,500新元提高到3,000新元，确保随着工资增长，仍覆盖低薪工人。
我还将提高工作补贴发放金额。低薪年长工人最高年补助将从4,200新元增至4,900新元。
第二，我将提高本地合资格薪金（LQS）。所有雇佣外籍工人的公司，必须支付本地员工不低于LQS的薪金。[请参见“副总理兼财政部长澄清”，官方报告，2024年2月16日，第95卷，第123期，书面声明更正部分。]
今年起，全职工人的LQS将从1,400新元提高至1,600新元。最低时薪将从9新元提高至10.50新元。此举确保薪资增长保持同步。
第三，我将为提高低薪工人工资的雇主提供更多支持。2022年，我推出渐进工资信贷计划（PWCS），政府与雇主共同资助低薪工人的工资增长。
我知道雇主对当前经济中的成本上升感到担忧。因此，政府将尽力协助。今年，我将把共同资助比例从最高30%提高至最高50%。
我还将于2025年将PWCS工资上限从2,500新元提高至3,000新元，与工作补贴合资格收入上限同步调整。
为支持这些增强措施，我将向PWCS基金追加10亿新元。
除了提升低薪工人，我们还希望改善各职业的工资水平。任何社会中工资差异都存在，但过大差距会引发不健康的焦虑和压力。家长和孩子可能陷入教育军备竞赛，或感到压力只优先考虑少数传统领域的职业，而非发挥个人优势和天赋。
事实上，绝大多数参与“前进新加坡”对话的新加坡人欢迎更广泛的成功定义。我们希望有更多多元路径，让每个人都能努力成为最好的自己。这也意味着我们必须更加重视技术动手能力强者，以及具备社交和同理心特质、能在服务岗位出色表现者。特别是，我们ITE毕业生的工资和职业前景不应远低于理工学院和大学毕业生。
我最近会见了一些ITE应届毕业生。他们的个人故事和深化所学技能的热情令我深受鼓舞。
其中一位，Matthew Francis Thanarajoo，2021年从ITE获得机电一高级文凭。他现正于淡马锡理工学院攻读机电文凭，磨练自动化和机器人技能。这些经历使他有信心追求工程梦想。他将代表新加坡参加今年晚些时候在法国举行的世界技能大赛，我们祝他一切顺利。[掌声]
我们希望鼓励和支持更多年轻ITE毕业生提升技能，助他们在所学专业中出类拔萃，迈向更好的职业和薪资轨迹。因此，我将通过新的ITE晋升奖为30岁及以下的ITE毕业生提供更多支持。
该奖项包括两部分。
第一，当ITE毕业生报名文凭课程时，我将向其后续教育账户增拨5,000新元，帮助抵消文凭学习费用。
第二，当这些学生获得文凭时，我将向其中央公积金（CPF）普通账户额外增拨10,000新元，助其购房或退休储蓄起步。
先生，这一新奖项是我们对ITE毕业生的重要投资，体现我们持续提升他们能力、支持终身学习的承诺。
除了应对不平等，我们还必须维护社会流动性。
迄今为止，新加坡的表现优于其他发达经济体。但我们必须继续特别关注来自经济条件较差家庭的儿童，确保他们在生命早期就能获得充分且公平的机会。
许多这样的家庭已经开始采取措施改善自己的生活，但他们可能难以维持进步。我们知道，他们常常面临复杂的挑战，包括婚姻压力、现有债务，甚至是动力和自信心问题。
在加强版的ComLink（ComLink+）计划下，我们为这些家庭提供更具针对性的支持。我们安排家庭教练和志愿者朋友直接与这些家庭合作。他们将共同制定改善生活状况的行动计划，教练还将为家庭提供额外支持，以鼓励和激励他们实现这些目标。
额外支持将以ComLink+进步礼包的形式推出。这是我们社会政策领域的又一重大创新。[请参阅附件E-2。]
例如，家庭中的成年人如果找到工作并保持就业，每季度可通过现金和公积金组合获得最高600新元的补助。
那些自愿向公积金缴款的人将获得政府的配套补助，以加快储蓄增长。结合现有的“新起点住房计划”等方案，将帮助这些家庭购买自己的住房。
我们还将与企业和社区团体合作实施ComLink+进步礼包。捐助者可以为这些家庭提供额外的财政支持，并通过结交朋友和指导等方式帮助他们重新站起来。
先生，在本预算案中，我们将采取进一步措施，确保所有新加坡人都有机会从事他们认为有意义且充实的工作，发挥他们的才能，尽力而为，并获得公平的回报。这是我们让新加坡梦为所有人持续生机勃勃的方式。
政府将尽我们的职责。但我要强调，这不仅仅是政府做得更多。我们还需要雇主、社区团体以及家庭和个人自身共同努力。我们携手合作，必将建设一个更公平、更平等、更包容的新加坡。[掌声。]
接下来，让我谈谈我们建设一个适合家庭的新加坡的计划——一个让我们所有人都能安家落户、成长和安享晚年的温馨家园。
家庭是我们社会的基石，我们将在生命的每个阶段支持他们的需求。
让我先从支持我们的儿童开始，给予他们坚实的人生基础。
我们将继续采取措施改善学前教育的负担能力。在政府支持的幼儿园，我们提供慷慨的补贴，以保持家庭自付费用的可负担性。
我们将进一步降低费用，使双职工家庭的全日制幼儿园费用与小学及课后学生照顾费用相当。
这将分两阶段进行。我将在2025年降低政府支持幼儿园的月度托儿费上限，锚点运营商为640新元，合作运营商为680新元。这是在所有家庭都能享受的托儿补贴之前的费用上限。我将在2026年再次降低费用上限，具体细节稍后公布。
我还将加强对低收入家庭的现有学前教育补贴。目前，工作母亲的子女获得更多补贴。我将把这些较高的补贴扩展到所有低收入家庭的儿童，包括非工作母亲的子女。这将惠及多达17,000名儿童。[掌声。]
在学校方面，我们将做更多工作，帮助孩子们培养在更不可预测的未来中茁壮成长所需的能力和价值观。
教育部（MOE）正更加重视适应性和创新思维、沟通技巧及公民素养等能力。
我们希望鼓励并认可展现这些能力的学生，包括通过加强教育储蓄奖学金（Edusave awards）。
因此，我将向教育储蓄基金注资20亿新元，以支持这些及其他教育举措。
对于准备成家立业的年轻夫妇，及时获得负担得起的住房至关重要。
我们通过增加组屋建屋计划（BTO）供应并给予首次置业家庭更高优先权来帮助他们。
我们还将通过“优质、加成和标准”框架，使优选地点的组屋更负担得起，确保公平和包容。该框架将在今年晚些时候针对新的BTO项目实施。
一些夫妇已经预订了BTO组屋，但他们可能希望在等待组屋完工期间有临时住所，尤其是有幼儿的家庭。
目前，建屋发展局（HDB）提供父母临时住房计划（PPHS）下的补贴租赁住房。
HDB收到许多该计划的申请，正在增加供应以满足需求。但在此期间，我们希望为有紧急住房需求的年轻家庭提供更多支持。
因此，我将提供为期一年的PPHS（开放市场）券，支持符合条件的家庭在开放市场租赁HDB组屋。
在本预算案中，我将为有特殊需要或残疾人士的家庭提供更多支持。
我们知道，特殊需要儿童的家庭因教育和照护服务费用较高而面临更大成本压力。特殊教育（SPED）学校的每名学生已享有比主流小学学生更多的补贴。但由于较高的基础成本，大多数SPED学校的费用仍高于主流学校。
我们正在研究进一步减轻这些家庭成本压力的措施。作为第一步，我将把SPED学校的最高月费从目前的150新元降至90新元。我还将降低所有特殊学生照护中心的费用上限，以减少家庭自付费用。
对于残疾成年人，我将提供更多就业和社区融入支持。我将扩大庇护工场和日间活动中心的名额，供他们接受技能培训，并启动更多支持残疾人士及其照顾者的社区服务中心。
相关部长将在供应委员会上分享更多相关举措。
我将加大对老年人退休需求的支持。
让我先从公积金制度的调整说起。[请参阅附件F-1。]
首先，按照三方工作组关于年长员工的建议，我们将继续推进计划中的公积金缴费率提升。2025年，我将把55至65岁年龄组的公积金缴费率再提高1.5个百分点。
我还将为雇主提供公积金过渡补贴（CPF Transition Offset）一年，覆盖2025年雇主缴费增加的一半，以缓解企业成本压力。
其次，我将从2025年起提高增强退休储蓄额（ERS）。ERS是会员可存入公积金退休账户以领取公积金支付的最高金额。
我将把ERS从基本退休储蓄额的三倍提高到四倍，2025年ERS将达到426,000新元。这将允许55岁及以上的会员在愿意的情况下，将更多累积的公积金储蓄用于领取更高的公积金支付。
第三，我们将采取措施简化公积金制度。目前，55岁及以上会员拥有特别账户（SA）和退休账户（RA）。从明年起，我们将关闭55岁及以上会员的特别账户。特别账户的储蓄将转入退休账户，直至达到全额退休储蓄额，并继续享受长期利率。
剩余的特别账户储蓄将转入普通账户（OA）。但会员可随时自愿将普通账户储蓄转入退休账户，最高至增强退休储蓄额，以获得更高利息和退休支付。
我还将加强对需要更多帮助的老年人的退休支持计划。
银发支持计划（Silver Support Scheme）为工作期间收入较低且家庭支持较少的老年人提供季度支付。我将把银发支持的合资格人均家庭收入门槛从1,800新元提高到2,300新元，并将季度支付提高20%，以跟上通胀。
配对退休储蓄计划（MRSS）帮助55至75岁的新加坡人储蓄不足的公积金，通过现金补充公积金账户获得一比一的配对补助。[请参阅“副总理兼财政部长澄清”，官方报告，2024年2月16日，第95卷，第123期，书面声明更正部分。]
我将对该计划做出若干调整。
我将把MRSS的年龄上限延长至70岁以上。这将使更多新加坡人在家庭、雇主和社区的帮助下满足退休需求。
我将把年度配对上限从600新元提高到2,000新元，并设定终身配对上限为20,000新元。
目前，我们提供税收减免以鼓励新加坡人向公积金补充资金。但配对补助已是政府提供的重要福利。因此，我们将取消对获得配对补助的现金补充的税收减免。
银发支持和MRSS的这些变动将于2025年生效。
目前处于50多岁和60多岁初期的“年轻银发族”将通过“前进计划”获得额外的退休支持。该计划由李显龙总理在去年的国庆集会上宣布。
虽然该计划主要支持年轻银发族，先驱和独立世代的老年人也将受益。事实上，所有1973年及以前出生的新加坡人都将至少获得“前进计划”的一项福利。让我说明。[请参阅附件F-2。]
首先，我将提供“赚取与储蓄奖金”，帮助月收入不超过6,000新元的老年人积累更多退休储蓄。他们只要继续工作，每年可获得最高1,000新元的奖金，收入较低者奖金更高。
其次，我将向退休储蓄低于基本退休储蓄额的老年人提供一次性退休储蓄奖金，金额介于1,000至1,500新元之间。
这两项奖金适用于居住在年租值25,000新元或以下物业且仅拥有一处物业的老年人。
第三，我将向所有1973年及以前出生的老年人提供一次性医疗储蓄奖金。经济条件较差的年轻银发族将获得较高的1,500新元奖金；其他老年人将获得750新元。人力部长将在供应委员会上分享更多细节。
总体而言，“前进计划”将惠及约160万新加坡人，终身总成本为82亿新元。为履行这一承诺而不加重未来世代负担，我将设立一个新的基金——“前进计划基金”，拨款75亿新元。该基金的投资收益将足以覆盖计划的终身成本。
另一个重大任务是医疗保健。多年来，我们大力投资，确保医疗保健对所有人都负担得起且可及。卫生部（MOH）的年度预算在十年内增长了三倍。
我们将这笔开支用在刀刃上。我们投入更多资源于日益重要的领域，如预防健康、老年人支持以及心理健康和福祉，正如本议院最近确认的。我们也持续享有健康成果的改善，新加坡人寿命更长、健康状况更好。
但随着人口迅速老龄化，医疗保健的财政压力只会增加。作为负责任的政府，我们必须未雨绸缪，预留足够资源，保持医疗保健的可负担性。
提高消费税（GST）就是为此目的。实质上，我们通过现在提高消费税，预先为未来不断上升的医疗支出筹资。因为如果我们等待，将来会给我们自己和子孙后代带来更重的负担。
当然，个人也有责任。这就是为什么我们推出了“更健康的新加坡”（Healthier SG），赋能所有新加坡人掌控自己的健康。虽然还处于初期阶段，但势头令人鼓舞。已有超过70万新加坡居民注册加入“更健康的新加坡”。
其中一位是今年69岁的鲁比亚女士。她称赞“更健康的新加坡”的咨询为她提供了及时的健康管理建议。如今，她每天监测血压，减少冰淇淋和“虾片”的摄入，并通过健身课程和自然徒步保持活跃。她还通过在“更健康的新加坡”路演中做志愿者，帮助传播这一理念。
先生，我敦促所有老年人效仿鲁比亚女士的脚步。听从医生建议，参与有助于保持健康的项目，甚至通过担任老年志愿者将健康理念传递下去。
即使生活方式更健康，我们随着年龄增长，尤其是临近生命终点时，仍然需要某种形式的医疗护理。我们必须预期医疗费用，包括医疗保险费，即使在政府慷慨补贴后，也会增加。
我们希望确保所有新加坡人，包括自雇人士和未就业者，能够积累医疗储蓄，以应对这些不断上升的费用。因此，我将向所有21至50岁的成年新加坡人提供一次性最高300新元的医疗储蓄奖金。
这将惠及约140万新加坡人，帮助他们支付较小的医疗账单和保险费。[请参阅附件F-3。]
结合针对较老群体的“前进计划”，今年我们将为约300万新加坡人提供医疗储蓄奖金。
为了提供更多医疗费用支持，我还将更新医疗及相关社会支持补贴计划的人均家庭收入门槛。这些计划包括医疗保险（MediShield Life）保费补贴、社区健康援助计划（CHAS）初级护理补贴，以及公立医院的门诊和住院治疗补贴。
调整人均家庭收入门槛将导致政府在医疗及相关领域每年额外支出约3亿新元。超过100万新加坡人将因此受益，获得更高补贴。
这将为医疗费用提供更大保障，也减轻照顾者的经济压力。[请参阅附件F-4。]
预防护理对老年人尤为重要。孤独对老年人伤害极大。他们需要保持活跃和社会联系。这就是我们设立“乐龄新加坡”（Age Well SG）的原因——这是一个支持老年人积极老龄化、保持社会联系并在社区内获得照顾的新国家计划。
我将在未来十年为“乐龄新加坡”计划拨款35亿新元。该计划包括多个组成部分。
首先，扩大活跃老龄中心网络，使所有老年人都能在这些中心享受更丰富的项目，从体育锻炼到志愿服务机会。
其次，为有照护需求的老年人开发更多辅助生活选项，如社区照护公寓和更好的居家照护安排，助力他们自信地在家中和社区老龄化。
第三，对我们的住宅区进行“银发升级”，使老年人在社区中更独立、更安全地生活。这包括治疗花园、无障碍坡道等设施，以及更适合老年人的家居配件，如更宽的厕所入口和淋浴座椅。
第四，改善老年人的通勤基础设施，提升其出行和安全性。这意味着更多有遮蔽的连廊、具备老年友好功能的公交站，以及更安全、更适合行人的道路。
先生，当您将所有这些努力结合起来——我们在教育、住房、退休和医疗保健方面的投资——它们体现了我们坚定不移的承诺，通过生命的每个阶段满足家庭和老年人的需求。通过这些投资，我们将为所有新加坡人提供更多保障——让大家安心，改善生活和福祉，确保新加坡真正成为我们所有人的家园。[掌声。]
除了加强经济和社会的投资外，我们还将进行必要投资，打造一个更强大、更团结的国家。我们将维护新加坡的独特性和韧性——我们彼此关照和保卫的承诺，维持我们对彼此及机构的信任，建设强烈的民族自豪感和身份认同。
自独立以来，我们稳步投资保障和平与安全。
过去二十年，我们每年将约3%至4%的国内生产总值（GDP）拨给国防部（MINDEF）预算。同时，过去十年，我们在国内安全上的支出翻倍，超过80亿新元，约占GDP的1.3%。
我们将继续建设和维护一支强大有效的新加坡武装部队（SAF）和内务部队（Home Team）。我们将逐年投资并升级其能力，以保护自己免受潜在侵略者和安全威胁。
我们的国防和安全的支柱仍然是国民服役（NS）。我们对忠诚服役并为我们的和平与安全作出无数牺牲的国民服役人员负有巨大感激之情。
因此，我将以LifeSG积分的形式向所有过去和现在的国民服役人员提供200新元的奖励，包括今年入伍的人员。[请参阅附件G-1。]
这只是一个小小的举措，但累计起来将花费我们2.4亿新元，惠及120万名国民服役人员。我希望这能在一定程度上表达我们对国民服役人员及其家属为国家所做和持续做出的贡献的感激和谢意。[掌声。]
在当今世界，国防和安全不仅适用于物理环境，也适用于数字领域。诈骗、勒索软件、数据泄露、拒绝服务攻击及其他网络威胁日益普遍。人工智能和量子计算等新技术的发展和应用也将改变威胁格局。网络攻击的速度、规模和复杂性将不断增加。
我们已采取措施加强网络防御。在新加坡武装部队成立了数字与情报服务部。我们将在榜鹅数字区建立新的国家网络安全指挥中心，以更好地协调网络防御行动，提升与产业界和学术界的合作，并推动网络安全创新。这将提升我们监控、检测和协调防御网络威胁的能力。
除了传统的安全领域，我们还需应对一个新兴的安全挑战——能源，尤其是向更清洁能源的转型。
在近期至中期内，目前几乎所有电力均由天然气发电，天然气仍将是关键能源。
我们的天然气供应通过来自印度尼西亚和马来西亚的管道，以及来自多个来源的液化天然气（LNG）。
我们正计划建设第二个液化天然气终端，以满足日益增长的电力需求。
天然气是所有化石燃料中最清洁的。但如果我们继续仅依赖天然气，将无法实现净零排放。不幸的是，我们的清洁能源选择有限——没有潮汐能、没有风能，且土地不足以大规模部署太阳能。那么，我们该怎么办？
一种方式是进口低碳电力。我们在这方面已有进展。但进口电力存在安全限制。因此，我们需要其他选项来实现能源供应的脱碳。这就是为什么我们积极探索其他方案。
氢气具有作为清洁燃料的潜力。目前技术尚处于初期阶段，成本高且风险大。尽管如此，我们已制定国家氢能战略，采取有目的的步骤推进。我们将从测试和部署氨气开始，氨气是一种氢载体，用于裕廊岛的发电和加注燃料。
我们也在探索其他能源。我们积极研究地热发电的可能性。毕竟，我们在三巴旺有温泉。但这需要深钻以评估潜力，是否可行尚待观察。
更远的未来，我们不排除核能。核技术发展迅速，设计更小型、更安全且燃料效率更高。我们将提升能力，以便批判性评估该领域不断发展的技术，并决定未来某天核能部署的可行性。
这些能源路径如何发展存在相当不确定性。但可以确定的是，从目前几乎完全依赖天然气的系统转向主要由清洁能源驱动的系统，将需要大量努力和成本。
我们称之为“能源转型”。“转型”听起来是个无害的词，但这所谓的转型规模巨大，我们需要在未来二十年左右完成，这时间并不多，考虑到任务的艰巨性。
例如，为进口低碳电力，我们需要投资海底电缆并升级现有电网。若决定扩大氢能使用，则需建设新的发电、储存和输送基础设施。所有这些投资成本高昂，无法仅靠私营部门完成，可能需要政府的催化资金支持。
因此，我将设立未来能源基金，初始注资50亿新元。这将增强我们及时投资的信心，使我们能更快推进关键基础设施建设，提升清洁能源安全。
国家的韧性不仅以支出、基础设施和硬件衡量。真正的韧性在于内在——新加坡人之间建立的牢固纽带，以及我们共同照顾彼此的意愿。每位新加坡男女老少都知道自己属于这个岛国，每个人在社会中都有位置，每个人都在新加坡的发展故事中扮演角色。这就是我们昨天纪念的第40个全面防卫的精髓。
我们通过加强助人文化来培养新加坡人之间的纽带。
许多在新加坡取得成功的人想回馈社会，但可能不知道如何或从何开始。
我们将做更多工作，帮助捐赠者更好地了解社会需求，并指导他们如何更有效地将财务或非财务资源用于支持低收入家庭。此项工作将由新加坡社区基金会牵头，与社会及家庭发展部（MSF）和社区 Chest 合作。
同样精神下，我们鼓励慈善机构合作，互相扶持，更好满足受助者需求。我将延长慈善能力基金合作补助金三年，至2026财年末，支持慈善机构间的合作项目，提升治理、效率和能力。
做好事也超越国界。许多新加坡人积极支持海外人道主义危机受害者。去年土耳其和叙利亚毁灭性地震后的救援行动，以及以色列-哈马斯冲突引发的人道悲剧中，我们都见证了这种支持。
为鼓励新加坡人支持海外有需要者，我将推出海外人道援助税收扣除计划。通过指定慈善机构向海外紧急人道援助事业的现金捐款将享有100%税收扣除。该计划将作为试点运行四年。[请参阅附件G-2。]
更强的助人文化将使我们更加紧密团结，建设一个更有爱心和宽容的社会。
加强团结的另一途径是通过我们共同参与的经历。艺术和体育为此提供了平台。
先谈艺术。艺术帮助表达我们独特的新加坡文化，加强共同纽带，使新加坡成为独特的家园。
国家艺术理事会（NAC）已更新“我们的新加坡艺术计划”，推动艺术领域的转型。我们将在未来四年投资1亿新元支持该计划。
作为计划的一部分，我们旨在让所有新加坡人更易接触艺术。我们将为艺术家创造更多机会和接触点，使艺术融入城市和社区的各个角落。
额外投资还将加强更有活力的艺术产业基础。NAC将支持艺术团体发展和展示多样化艺术作品，并加强人才库。自由职业艺术家也将受益于更多发展机会，拓宽和深化技能。
除了艺术，几乎没有什么能像体育一样凝聚国家、激发新加坡精神。从基层到全球舞台，从社区参与到高水平竞技，体育将各行各业的新加坡人聚集在一起。
在基层，我们将通过继续支持体育设施总体规划，促进更多新加坡人参与体育。新加坡人可期待大巴窑、榜鹅和金文泰的新建和翻新体育中心，以及社区内更多体育和休闲设施。
许多新加坡人希望支持国家运动员，我们将为他们提供更多平台。我们将承办更多大型体育赛事，让运动员在主场与世界顶尖选手同场竞技，让更多新加坡人为新加坡队加油。
我们还有“一队新加坡基金”，为捐赠给新加坡队运动员的款项提供一比一配捐。我将为该基金追加2000万新元，并延长至2027财年末。
此外，我将扩大配捐资格范围，涵盖新兴运动项目的运动员，如匹克球、触球和举重。我还将纳入SportCares，该组织为弱势儿童和青少年、残障人士及长者提供体育项目参与机会。
文化、社区及青年部长将在供应委员会上分享更多关于艺术和体育的举措。
先生，世界各地社会日益分裂，国家愈发脆弱。经济增长或社会转移支付本身无法保证成功。
因此，本预算投资于国家韧性——从确保军事和国内安全的效能，到保障能源安全和建设更强的国家认同。这些将保护我们免受外部威胁和分裂力量的影响。只有这样，我们才能有信心新加坡将持续发展。
我们投资经济、社会和韧性的能力必须建立在坚实的财政基础上。
财政责任一直是新加坡DNA的重要部分。我们明智地使用资源，谨慎为子孙后代提供保障。这就是为何我在过去两次预算中做出重大收入调整。这些举措为未来十年奠定了更强的财政基础，同时确保公共财政体系整体公平且进步。
今年，鉴于生活成本的担忧，我将为2024评估年度提供50%的个人所得税回扣。回扣上限为200新元，主要惠及中等收入工人。此回扣将花费政府3.5亿新元。
目前，纳税人如其受养人年收入不超过4000新元，可申请多种受养人相关减免。
我们收到公众、税务从业者及工党议员的反馈，建议考虑提高受养人收入门槛，以应对生活成本和工资水平上涨。因此，自2025评估年度起，我将把受养人相关减免的年收入门槛从4000新元提高至8000新元。
在2022年预算中，我宣布对住宅物业的物业税率进行两步上调。这是作为财富税，针对所有投资物业及高端自住物业。
在该预算宣布前，市场租金在过去五年相对平稳。但自2022年起，因需求强劲和疫情相关供应限制，市场租金显著上涨，导致年值（AV）也大幅增加。我们原预计物业税调整主要影响7%顶端自住物业，但年值上涨使受影响比例几乎翻倍至13%。
鉴于市场趋势，我将自2025年1月1日起提高自住住宅物业税的所有年值区间。目前物业税按年值区间从8000新元至超过10万新元征收。我将把下限从8000新元提高至12000新元，上限从超过10万新元提高至超过14万新元，并相应调整中间区间。这仍将保持物业税调整的初衷，确保高价值住宅居民继续公平纳税。
政府今年已提供物业税回扣以缓冲调整影响。我们将继续密切监测房地产市场，必要时在2025年提供额外回扣。
我们认识到部分退休人员居住在高端住宅，缴纳物业税时面临现金流困难。为帮助他们，新加坡税务局（IRAS）将提供24个月免息分期付款计划。可通过IRAS网站申请或联系IRAS了解详情。
接下来，我将调整购买住宅物业的额外买家印花税（ABSD）。
目前，拥有现有住宅物业的已婚夫妇可享受新加坡已婚夫妇ABSD优惠，购买替换私宅时可申请ABSD退款。
为更好支持希望缩小居住规模的长者，我将把该优惠扩展至55岁及以上的单身新加坡公民。换言之，这些长者如在购买低价值替换私宅后六个月内出售首套物业，可申请替换私宅所缴ABSD退款。此扩展自今日起生效。
我还将为房地产开发商引入ABSD制度的灵活性。开发商现获ABSD减免，条件是须在规定销售期限内售出所有单位。但有时开发商难以满足期限要求，需全额追回ABSD。
我将降低ABSD追回率，条件是开发商在规定期限内售出至少90%的单位。这确保住房供应及时释放，同时给予开发商一定灵活性。具体细节将于今日稍后发布声明。
接下来，关于企业所得税——我将对税制进行重大调整，以应对国际税基侵蚀和利润转移（BEPS）2.0倡议。
回顾一下，BEPS包含两大支柱。第一支柱旨在将利润征税权重新分配至市场辖区。实施后，新加坡将面临收入损失。第一支柱目前已推迟，实施日期尚不明确。第二支柱将为大型跨国企业集团引入15%的全球最低有效税率。
在上次预算中，我宣布计划自2025年起实施第二支柱，并将视情况调整时间表。
此后，多个司法辖区已行动。欧盟、英国、瑞士、日本和韩国自2024年起实施第二支柱规则。香港和马来西亚等地宣布自2025年起实施。
因此，我们将按计划推进第二支柱的两个组成部分。
第一是收入纳入规则（IIR）。引入该规则的辖区将对其辖区内跨国企业集团的海外利润征收最低15%的有效税率。我们将实施IIR。换言之，总部设在新加坡的跨国企业集团，无论其运营地点如何，均须对海外利润缴纳最低15%的有效税率。
第二是国内补充税（DTT）。该税适用于跨国企业集团在新加坡的利润。若无此税，这些集团需向其总部辖区缴纳15%的有效税率。实施DTT符合我们利益，使我们能征收该税，而非由他处征收。
IIR和DTT将自2025年1月1日或之后开始的财年生效，适用于全球年收入至少7.5亿欧元的大型跨国企业集团。
第二支柱还有一部分：低税利润规则。这是一个后备措施，允许新加坡对在本地运营的跨国企业中，任何海外收入未达到最低税率部分征收补充税。
我们将在后期考虑该规则。鉴于DTT和IIR已带来重大企业税制变革，我们将优先实施这两项，确保受影响企业顺利过渡。
短期内，第二支柱实施将带来额外收入。但具体金额和持续时间尚不确定。若跨国企业为应对新环境将部分业务转移至他处，税基甚至可能减少。
无论如何，第二支柱带来的额外收入需再投资，以保持新加坡在后BEPS时代的竞争力。
跨国企业正重新评估计划和策略。其他政府也在加强和更新投资促进工具。
这就是为何我们推出了前述的可退还投资抵免。我们还需增加支出，支持新投资、研发创新活动，维持经济竞争力。
总体而言，鉴于保持竞争力所需的巨大支出，目前我并不预计这些新举措会为新加坡带来持续的净收入增长。
我还将进行一些进一步的税收调整，以确保我们的税制保持公平和具有竞争力。税收变动的详细内容见预算附件。[请参阅附件H-1。]
先生，去年财政部（MOF）发布了一组中期财政前景预测。这些预测显示，政府支出多年来稳步上升。2000年代末我们的支出约占GDP的15%。十年间，增长了3个百分点，达到约占GDP的18%。
我们预计本十年支出将继续上升。医疗保健是支出增长的一个关键驱动力。但还有额外的支出需求推动增长。正如我之前所解释的，我们必须为实现经济脱碳的重大举措投入更多资金。
作为“前进新加坡”计划的一部分，我们正在进行重大政策转变，以加强社会安全网，为新加坡人提供更多保障。我刚刚在今年的预算中介绍了其中一些措施。我们将在2024财年为“前进新加坡”政策举措支出约50亿新元，到本十年末累计接近400亿新元。
在我们的预测中，财政部评估政府支出将在2030年增至约占GDP的20%。目前，这仍是我们的评估。假设我们保持在这一支出增长范围内，我们应有足够的收入维持未来几年的预算平衡。
但中期财政状况依然紧张。因为我们面临诸多增加支出的压力，无论是医疗保健、社会需求，还是能源转型，这些都是大额开支。我们必须谨慎管理这些支出，否则将面临显著的资金缺口。
我们已经看到许多其他发达经济体的公共财政走上不可持续的道路，财政体系面临崩溃风险。我们绝不能让这种情况发生在新加坡。相反，让我们坚持财政纪律和责任的精神，这一直是我们的优势，确保我们的财政状况始终保持平衡、稳健和可持续。
先生，现在让我总结一下2023财年和2024财年的财政状况。2023财年，我们的收入征收好于预期，主要是企业所得税收入增加。
额外收入将使我们能够支付新的支出，包括向“前进计划基金”注入的75亿新元。
考虑到收入上升和支出增加，我们预计2023财年将以36亿新元赤字结束，占GDP的0.5%。
2024财年，我们预算小幅盈余8,000万新元，占GDP的0.1%，基本实现财政平衡。整体财政立场适当，因为我们为家庭和企业提供有针对性的支持，同时经济预计将运行在潜在水平左右。[请参阅附件H-2。]
议长先生，请允许我作结。
我们生活在一个未来将变得更加暴力、更加分裂、更加不可预测的世界。我们希望情况不是这样。我们将尽最大努力，与国际社会合作，推动更好的全球结果。
但我们也必须现实。重大灾难往往在发生前难以想象。情况可能会先恶化后好转。因此，我们必须做好心理准备，并立即采取措施适应这个复杂的世界。
这不是我们第一次面临这样的局面。自独立以来，我们不得不适应各种外部干扰和冲击。
1967年英国决定从新加坡撤军；1973年和1979年的全球石油危机；1997年亚洲金融危机；2000年代初的互联网泡沫破裂；9/11事件；非典；2008年全球金融危机；当然还有最近的新冠疫情。
每一次，我们都能经受风暴，变得更加强大。
我相信，只要我们团结一致，携手合作，继续彼此信任，我们未来的道路也能如此。
2024年预算正是基于这一信念。我们正在帮助新加坡人应对生活成本问题。我们正在采取重大措施推进“前进新加坡”议程。
我们将推动经济增长。我们必须这样做。因为增长是创造更好就业和提高全民生活水平的前提。
我们将装备每个人实现潜能，确保每个人都能从国家进步中受益。
我们将加强风险共担和社会支持体系，使新加坡人在每个生命阶段都能获得更好保障，更有能力从挫折中恢复。
我们将强化韧性、团结和统一，使我们在面对任何挑战或威胁时保持强大和有效。
我们不是唯一一个适应不同世界的国家。各国都在寻找解决方案。许多国家难以实施大胆和长期的计划。
但我们能在新加坡实现这一目标。我们之所以能够做到，是因为：（a）我们的财政状况健康且可持续；（b）政府赢得了新加坡人的信任；（c）我们的人民团结一致；（d）我们的社会契约坚固。
这些是新加坡故事背后的关键要素。我们今天拥有的稀有、卓越且独特。让我们珍惜它，珍视它，利用这些优势，使新加坡在动荡的世界中继续成为闪亮的红点。
在新冠疫情的黑暗日子里，这段经历现在对我们所有人来说都像一场噩梦，我曾访问河滨中学。老师让学生们想象十年后他们会做什么，并写信给未来的自己。
一名学生——Levin Ong——写道，我引用：“亲爱的未来的Levin，希望你这十年来一切安好。我感谢新加坡应对新冠疫情的方式……我面临的挑战与其他人在这段艰难时期相比微不足道。我希望世界变得更美好，并尽我所能回馈社会。我希望到2030年，我为每个人创造了一个更美好的世界。”
对未来的希望。回馈社会。我们每个人都尽力让这里变得更好。这就是我们的目标。
议长先生，让我们从像Levin这样的年轻新加坡人身上汲取灵感，充满信心地前进，共同建设我们的共享未来。先生，我请求动议。[掌声。]
议长：问题是，“议会批准政府2024年4月1日至2025年3月31日财政年度的财政政策。”
根据议事规则第89条第（1）款，辩论现休会。辩论何时恢复？
黄循财先生：2024年2月26日星期一，先生。
议长：照此办理。
英文原文
SPRS Hansard 原始记录 · 抓取日期：2026-05-02
Mr Speaker : Order. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Notice of Motion.
3.30 pm
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (Mr Lawrence Wong) : Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the Financial Year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025."
Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the Financial Year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025."
The past year has not been easy. The international environment was troubled. The global economy was subdued. Our economy grew by a modest 1.1%, avoiding a recession.
I know that many households are feeling the pressure of higher living costs.
Fortunately, we had some unexpected revenue upside from our strong economic rebound in the preceding two years. And this is why the Government was able to enhance its assistance measures to relieve the burden on households.
For 2024, the outlook is mixed. Growth in the major economies on the whole is expected to remain resilient. But geopolitical risks continue to loom large. Wars are raging in Europe and the Middle East. These conflicts can escalate dangerously, leading to disruptions in global energy markets and supply chains.
Fortunately, there are some upsides. Global inflationary pressures are expected to recede further. This may provide some room for the major central banks to adopt more accommodative stances, which may ease financial conditions and support demand.
The global electronics industry is expected to recover. This will bolster the growth of many regional economies, including our key trading partners.
Meanwhile, Asia continues to be a key driver of global growth, with a wider spread of opportunities across the region – not just in China, but also in India and many parts of Southeast Asia.
On the whole, we are cautiously optimistic that 2024 will be a better year. Besides lower inflation, we expect higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 1.0% to 3.0%.
But there is considerable uncertainty in the outlook and the risks are tilted to the downside. The international environment has darkened dramatically.
The post-Cold War era that began in the early 1990s and fostered three decades of peace and stability is over.
We are now in a new era of conflict and confrontation, and there is no turning back.
What can we expect in this new world?
It will be more violent. We already see a growing zone of impunity involving armed conflict and terrorism that cannot be easily resolved by the global community.
It will be more fragmented. Because the major powers are prioritising national security over economic interdependence, and traditional modes of cooperation are breaking down.
It will be messier and more unpredictable. Because there will be diminished willingness and capacity to tackle global issues, be it responding to future pandemics or tackling climate change.
These are the stark realities before us. For some time to come, Singapore will have to operate in an external environment that will be less stable and favourable to our security and prosperity than the preceding three decades.
That is why we embarked on the Forward Singapore exercise – to refresh our social compact to keep our society strong and united, and to set out a roadmap for our way forward in this very troubled world.
Through Forward Singapore, we aim to give more assurance to help Singaporeans navigate the uncertainties in today’s world; strengthen our sense of cohesion and solidarity; and keep our society together.
For as one united people, we can overcome all odds.
We can turn every challenge into opportunity and every vulnerability into strength.
We can build a nation that is vibrant and inclusive, fair and thriving, resilient and united.
We have an ambitious agenda to achieve these shared goals. We have major plans to unfold over the coming years. Some are ready to be implemented now.
Others will require more time to study or to work out the implementation details.
In this Budget, we will roll out the first instalment of our Forward Singapore programmes.
Budget 2024 is therefore about taking concrete steps to build our shared future together. We will:
(a) tackle immediate challenges for households and businesses;
(b) pursue better growth and jobs, and equip our workers for life;
(c) create more paths for equality and mobility;
(d) provide more assurance for families and seniors;
(e) and ultimately, forge a stronger and more united nation.
I will touch on each of these in turn in the rest of my speech.
We have enjoyed low inflation in Singapore for more than a decade. But inflation rose sharply in 2022, following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which led to significant increases in global energy and food prices.
Despite the unprecedented surge in prices, we had good economic growth in 2022. So, incomes that year rose faster than inflation and Singaporeans were better off, in real terms.
Unfortunately, this did not happen last year. Inflation had in fact started to moderate. But economic growth also slowed. As a result, real incomes declined.
We had picked up early indicators of this negative trend. And that is why I introduced the Cost-of-Living Support Package in September last year and enhanced the Assurance Package to over $10 billion.
While we expect the situation to improve this year, there are uncertainties in the outlook, as I mentioned just now. So, in this Budget, I will do more to support households and further enhance the Assurance Package.
First, I will provide an additional $600 in Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers for all Singaporean households. The first $300 will be disbursed in end-June this year, and the remaining $300 will be disbursed in January next year.
Second, I will provide a Cost-of-Living Special Payment of between $200 and $400 in cash. This will be extended to adult Singaporeans with Assessable Income of up to $100,000, and who do not own more than one property.
Third, I will provide additional one-off U-Save rebates to help HDB households cope with increases in their utility bills. In total, eligible HDB households can expect to receive two-and-a-half times the amount of regular U-Save rebates, or up to $950, in FY2024. This will cover about four months of utility bills for those living in 3- and 4- room flats.
Fourth, I will provide an additional one-off Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebate for HDB flats. Together with the regular S&CC rebates, eligible Housing and Development Board (HDB) households will receive up to four months of such rebates in FY2024.
Altogether, the additional support under the Assurance Package will cost $1.9 billion. [ Please refer to Annex B-1 . ]
We have designed the Assurance Package so that lower-income families get more support. We have also ensured that larger households, particularly those with seniors and children, get more support.
Let me give some illustrations.
A lower-income household of four, with two young children, will receive about $5,500 in benefits in FY2024. This comprises cash, MediSave top-ups, U-Save and S&CC rebates, and CDC Vouchers.
A middle-income household of four, with two young children, will receive about $3,000 in benefits.
A middle-income household with six persons – a larger family – including two seniors and two young children, will receive about $8,000 in benefits.
Sir, these are concrete ways to help Singaporeans tackle cost of living pressures. Let me assure everyone – we will always have your backs. [ Applause. ]
Beyond the Assurance Package, I will top up the Good and Services Tax (GST) Voucher Fund by $6 billion. This delivers on our commitment to permanently defray GST expenses for lower- and middle-income households, through the GST Voucher scheme.
Businesses also need help to manage rising costs. Many companies have seen increases in their wage bills, rental, and utilities, amongst others. I will therefore introduce an Enterprise Support Package, which will provide $1.3 billion in support to companies.
First, companies will receive a 50% Corporate Income Tax Rebate, capped at $40,000, in the Year of Assessment 2024. Not all companies are profitable, and some may not benefit from such a rebate. So, I will provide a minimum benefit of $2,000 in cash payouts for companies that employed at least one local employee in 2023.
Second, I will enhance the Enterprise Financing Scheme, which helps Singapore enterprises with their financing needs. The maximum working capital loan quantum will be permanently raised to $500,000. I will also extend until 31 March 2025 the enhanced maximum trade loan quantum, as well as the Government’s risk sharing of project loans to support domestic construction projects.
Third, I will extend the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit by a year to 30 June 2025. The Credit provides additional support for eligible employers to cover their out-of-pocket expenses when they embark on workforce and business transformation. With this extension, employers will have another year to claim any unused credit.
The measures in this Enterprise Support Package are tilted towards firms that make the effort to restructure and transform. I encourage all firms to make full use of these schemes, so that they can thrive and succeed, amidst a more challenging operating environment. [ Please refer to Annex B-2 . ]
The enhanced Assurance Package and the Enterprise Support Package will provide some near-term relief to Singaporean households and firms. These are needed during this difficult period when inflation, while moderating, remains on the high side. But they are not permanent solutions. In the longer term, the best way to deal with inflation is to ensure that our firms and workers are more productive, and that real incomes continue to rise sustainably.
Our key priority is to ensure a strong, innovative and vibrant economy. This is absolutely essential to secure good jobs and better lives for all Singaporeans, and on a sustained basis.
Since our early days of independence, we have been able to defy the odds and consistently achieve good economic performance. But we cannot afford to be complacent, especially in a more complex and volatile external environment.
In past years, some had suggested that Singapore should slow down, do not have to grow so quickly. Indeed, that happened last year – our economy grew by just about 1%. But if we were to experience similarly slow growth for several years in a row, we will be in trouble. We will have no chance of improving our collective wellbeing. Singaporeans’ living standards will be dented. We will not be able to afford the social services we need. And in the end, lower-income workers and families will be hit the hardest.
We therefore make no apology for pursuing growth. To be clear, we are not going for growth at all costs. There is a limit to how fast we can grow due to the tighter constraints we face in land, labour and carbon. But by focusing on productivity and innovation, we can push the frontier and grow at an average of about 2% to 3% each year over the next decade.
This is an ambitious goal given our stage of economic development. But we must aim high, so that Singapore keeps moving forward, and our people continue to enjoy more opportunities and a better quality of life.
A crucial enabler for growth is our ability to attract high-quality and high-value investments to Singapore. Because such projects bring the latest know-how and capabilities, and create good jobs for Singaporeans.
So far, our investment pipeline has been healthy. Despite a challenging external environment last year, the Economic Development Board (EDB) exceeded its targets, and brought in investments which are expected to create over 20,000 new jobs.
But the competition for investments is getting tougher. Governments around the world are rolling out vast subsidies to attract investments, especially in strategic industries. For example, in November last year, Japan announced that it would allocate ¥2 trillion, or about $18 billion, to support its semiconductor industry.
We cannot afford to engage in a “bidding war” with the major economies. But neither should we stand still and just do nothing.
We will therefore enhance our investment promotion toolkit by introducing a new Refundable Investment Credit. [ Please refer to Annex C-1 . ]
This is a tax credit with a refundable cash feature. It will support high-value and substantive economic activities, including the setting up or expansion of manufacturing facilities; new innovation and R&D activities; as well as activities in support of the green transition.
Essentially, this new tax credit will help us to stay competitive and attract investments from global companies with the right know-how and create good jobs for Singaporeans.
To support this and other investment promotion efforts, I will top up the National Productivity Fund by $2 billion this year.
Besides anchoring new investments, we must build on our existing strengths and upgrade the sectors where we have competitive advantages.
These advantages did not come about by chance. They are the result of many decades of hard work to restructure and upgrade our economy. We did not just keep costs competitive. We also enhanced our capabilities and moved up the value chain, so as to justify the higher premiums for operating out of Singapore. And we are pressing on with these restructuring efforts through the Industry Transformation Maps.
Take semi-conductors as one example. Singapore is not the cheapest location worldwide. But we have many things going for us – our excellent connectivity, our reliability and stable business environment, and also a critical mass of leading companies based here, and they operate across the value chain, from design, to wafer fabrication, to assembly and testing. The companies here do not produce cutting-edge 3 nm chips, which you will read about in the media these days. But they have carved out a niche in other types of chips, like specialty chips and NAND flash memory chips. These are critical enablers of automation, 5G and electric vehicles, and they are in high demand. That is how our little red dot can be a key node in the semi-conductor supply chain – accounting for more than 10% of the global semi-conductor market and 20% of semi-conductor equipment in the world.
Likewise in finance, we are a leading centre in Asia, supporting businesses from all over the world. And during this period of global uncertainty, we have been able to distinguish ourselves as a stable and trusted financial centre. The major financial institutions are keen to do more out of Singapore and we are seeing a continued inflow of investments, capital and talent.
So, whether in advanced manufacturing or high-end services, the strengths we have today are not easily replicated by others. But the global competitive landscape is ever-changing and other countries, you can be sure, are seeking to overtake us. So, in this Budget, I will set aside resources to reinforce our competitive lead.
I will top up the Financial Sector Development Fund by $2 billion. This will give the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) more resources to take full advantage of current opportunities, and extend our lead in the financial services sector – not just to do more in the core areas of banking, capital markets, asset management, and insurance, but also to build capabilities in new areas like fintech, as well as green and transition finance.
I will set aside more funds for research and development (R&D), because this is how we push the frontiers of innovation across the entire economy.
In 2020, we launched the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025) plan, with a commitment of $25 billion.
I will invest a further $3 billion in RIE2025. This will sustain our investments in research, innovation, and enterprise at about 1% of GDP. The additional resources will go towards research and related investments in national priorities such as advanced manufacturing, sustainability, the digital economy and healthcare.
Our investments in R&D will take some time to translate into concrete economic outcomes. But this is precisely why we must take a long-term view. For these investments help to develop a critical mass of capabilities, ideas and talent. They enable us to sharpen our competitive edge globally, as a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy.
Besides a steady commitment to R&D, we also need to harness the full power of technology across our key sectors.
One critical emerging technology is artificial intelligence (AI). AI is not just about ChatGPT or Large Language Models. It is a general-purpose technology, like electricity, the internal combustion engine, the computer, or the internet. It has the potential to transform a wide range of industries, and to enhance productivity across many existing processes, from drug discovery, to organising warehouses, or driving vehicles.
Singapore is already recognised as a serious player in AI development. We aim to go further – to build new peaks of excellence, and crowd in private sector resources along the way. We have set out the plans to do so in the National AI Strategy 2.0.
To support this strategy and further catalyse AI activities, I will invest more than $1 billion over the next five years into AI compute, talent and industry development.
Part of the investment will be used to ensure that Singapore can secure access to the advanced chips that are so crucial to AI development and deployment.
We will also work with leading companies in Singapore and around the world to set up their AI Centres of Excellence here. We want these Centres to spur industry collaboration and innovation, and drive greater value creation across the whole economy.
In tandem, I will allocate additional resources to catalyse investments in upgrading our Nationwide Broadband Network. With the additional investments, we aim to enable mass market access to broadband speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second in the second half of this decade. This is 10 times faster than the broadband speed in most homes today. This also ensures that our connectivity infrastructure will be able to support technologies like AI and immersive media, as they become more pervasive in the future.
We will continue to do more to invest in and strengthen our local enterprises.
We are helping smaller firms harness technology through pre-approved solutions, many tailored for the needs of specific industries. This enables the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) to “plug and play” and quickly achieve greater efficiency and productivity gains.
As companies grow, their needs will become more complex, especially as they go overseas. We are providing more customised support to help these companies scale up, and we will continue with these efforts.
One way for our companies to level up quickly is to partner with the multinational enterprises (MNEs) that are based here in Singapore. The MNEs set high requirements and standards for firms that wish to supply to them. We cannot force MNEs to choose only local suppliers. But we can and we will help Singapore enterprises to meet the high standards, and to form win-win partnerships with the MNEs.
Let me share an example from the aerospace industry. Aerospace parts must meet stringent manufacturing and safety requirements. So, aerospace manufacturers like Rolls-Royce, are highly selective in who they choose as partners.
Zincode, a local company was supported by the Smart Manufacturing Joint Lab – this is a collaboration between A*STAR, Rolls-Royce and Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited. The company was supported by this lab to improve its image processing capabilities. As a result, it qualified as one of the approved partners for inspection work at the Rolls-Royce manufacturing facility here in Singapore. Zincode has now successfully captured new opportunities from other companies in the aerospace sector and benefited from an increase in sales.
We want to help more companies like Zincode raise their capabilities and win new opportunities. Today, we have the Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) scheme. This supports collaborations between larger companies and SMEs, in the areas of supplier development and co-innovation.
I will enhance PACT to support partnerships in more areas – including capability training, internationalisation and corporate venturing. With the enhanced PACT, we aim to help more of our firms plug into global supply chains, compete in markets abroad and grow to become industry leaders in their own right.
For firms to be competitive, they also need to embrace sustainability. SMEs today sometimes still treat sustainability as an additional imposition and cost. But going green can be a competitive advantage. Because the MNEs are already looking to reduce their carbon footprint and they expect their suppliers to do the same. In other words, to play in the MNE value chain, our own companies must be “sustainability-ready”.
I will therefore extend the enhanced support for green loans under the Enterprise Financing Scheme, and expand its scope to help more of our SMEs adopt green solutions.
I will also enhance the Energy Efficiency Grant. This was introduced in 2022 for companies in the Food Services, Food Manufacturing and Retail sectors. I will extend the grant to more sectors including Manufacturing, Construction, Maritime and Data Centres and their users. Beyond pre-approved energy-efficient solutions supported under the Grant, we will provide additional support for companies with more ambitious plans to reduce their emissions. [ Please refer to Annex C-2 . ]
The Minister for Trade and Industry will elaborate on this and other sustainability-related measures at the Committee of Supply.
We are taking concrete steps to keep our economy competitive and vibrant, and to help our enterprises seize new opportunities. We will do whatever it takes to secure our place as one of the leading economic hubs in the world, known for our innovation, dynamism and deep capabilities, with good jobs and opportunities for our people.
Sir, people and talent are critical to our economic dynamism. We are investing heavily in our human capital, including in preschool and education. But learning cannot stop when formal schooling ends. And that is why we launched SkillsFuture – to systematically support Singaporeans in reskilling and upskilling, and equip them throughout life.
The Singapore workforce today ranks highly in terms of skills and technical proficiency. Our workers are able to command a premium in the global marketplace because of their expertise. But with rapid technological advances, expertise is in constant flux. Jobs like data entry clerks and door-to-door salesmen have dwindled in numbers. New jobs that did not exist decades ago, like data scientists and digital marketers are now in demand. Expertise keeps on changing.
In other words, robots and machines will not completely replace humans at work. But they will change the way expertise is defined and how value is created. We therefore have to invest even more in our human capital, and help our workers refresh and update their skills, and learn how to harness new technologies more effectively. Indeed, this is something that the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Labour Movement have consistently championed, most recently in the Forward Singapore engagements.
We started SkillsFuture nearly 10 years ago. Since then, Government spending on Continuing Education and Training has nearly doubled to $0.9 billion last year.
Today, every Singaporean gets a $500 SkillsFuture Credit, and all employers can get support to train their workers. We have also built up a wide array of training options, which individuals enjoy generous subsidies for.
We have made good progress over the past decade. But there is still much more to be done. Continuous skills upgrading throughout life is now more important than ever. So, we must firmly establish SkillsFuture as a key pillar of our social compact.
Quality learning and skills training is not just about attending a one- or two-day course. Workers may need weeks or months of training to get a proper skills reboot, especially if they are looking to move to a different area of work. Even if they stay in the same industry, they will need a substantial injection of skills from time to time to stay relevant.
But we know that taking time off from work to attend training courses over an extended period is not easy, especially for those in their 40s and 50s with financial and caregiving obligations.
I will therefore introduce a new SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme to better support our mid-career workers. I will share the broad thrusts of this package or programme, and the Minister for Education will provide more details at the Committee of Supply. [ Please refer to Annex D-1 . ]
First, I will give all Singaporeans aged 40 and above a top-up in SkillsFuture Credit of $4,000. All Singaporeans aged 40 and above will get the top-up in May this year. For those who are younger, you do not have to worry. Your turn will come – you will get the top-up, when you turn 40.
We have deliberately allowed the existing basic tier of $500 in SkillsFuture Credit to be used for a wide range of courses, and this was to instil a habit of lifelong learning.
The new $4,000 credit will be more targeted in scope – we will confine its usage to selected training programmes with better employability outcomes. This includes part-time and full-time diploma, post-diploma, and undergraduate programmes, as well as courses for the Progressive Wage Model sectors. We want participants taking up these programmes to be assured of better employment outcomes after they have completed their training.
Second, to provide more reskilling options, I will provide subsidies to all Singaporeans aged 40 and above to pursue another full-time diploma at our polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and Arts Institutions from Academic Year 2025 onwards.
In other words, we will give every Singaporean another bite of the education subsidy. Even after you have graduated from an Institute of Higher Learning as a younger person, you can come back again after you turn 40 to do a full-time diploma and it will be at subsidised rates.
Third, I will provide a monthly training allowance to Singaporeans aged 40 and above who enrol in selected full-time courses.
The training allowance will be equivalent to 50% of one’s average income over the latest available 12-month period and it will be capped at $3,000 per month. Every individual can receive up to 24 months of such a training allowance throughout their lifetime.
This will support the full duration of a SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme and more than half the duration of most qualifications issued by our Institutes of Higher Learning.
What do these changes mean for our workers?
Take the example of Mr Calvin Li, 40 years old now. He graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a Diploma in Electronic, Computer and Communication Engineering.
He works today as a Project Director at Khoon Engineering, which is a mechanical and electrical service provider. With the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, Calvin will enjoy a $4,000 top-up in SkillsFuture Credit.
He can use the Credit to pursue a second diploma. This diploma will be offered at subsidised fees and the Credit will cover more than half of the expense after subsidies. Should he intend to do this full-time, he can receive the monthly training allowance of up to 50% of his previous pay for two years.
Sir, we are making a significant enhancement to our SkillsFuture ecosystem. But we will reap the full benefits only if all of us – Government, employers, workers, and unions – lean forward to truly deepen this culture of lifelong learning and skills mastery in Singapore. This must be our shared commitment to one another – to help our fellow Singaporeans develop to their fullest potential and to have productive and meaningful careers.
There is one other move we will make under SkillsFuture. We know that technological changes will bring about more churn in the economy. Even when the economy as a whole is doing well, some businesses or even some industries may be suffering. In fact, it is not possible to have an economy that is dynamic and growing without failures and losses. In some sectors, firms will have to let go of people, while in other sectors, new and better jobs will be created.
We have to accept this reality. But it does not mean we should be indifferent to the suffering caused when firms lay off their workers.
Losing a job is a major setback for workers and their families. Those who become involuntarily unemployed naturally feel the pressure to rush into the first available job they find. But the new job may not always be a good fit. Ideally, they should consider ways to upgrade their skills and to find a job that fits their aptitude and talent. But displaced workers may not have the time to train or search for new jobs, especially when they are already straining to make ends meet.
Therefore, we will do more to support this group of workers. In particular, we will introduce a temporary financial support scheme for the involuntarily unemployed, while they undergo training or look for better-fitting jobs.
We have to design this scheme carefully, including the quantum of support and the conditionalities that come with the support. This is to avoid the pitfalls other countries experienced when they introduced unemployment benefits.
We are working out the parameters for the scheme, and will provide more details later this year.
Ours must always be an economy that provides opportunities for all; an economy that benefits the many rather than the few. That is why we are making significant enhancements to SkillsFuture, and supporting jobseekers while they search for their next opportunity. We believe that every worker matters; that every citizen counts. We will equip every Singaporean to benefit from the fruits of our economic growth. [ Applause. ]
In many developed countries, rising inequality and slowing social mobility have fractured social cohesion and deeply divided their peoples. These can create similar pressures here.
Indeed, we embarked on the Forward Singapore exercise because we do not want to succumb to the kind of harsh inequality we see in so many parts of the world. By creating more paths towards equality and mobility, we also put ourselves in a better position for continued growth – in other words, a strong economy and a strong society reinforce each other.
But tackling inequality is often easier said than done. Ideas on how to do so are frequently replete with unintended consequences. Simple handouts and blunt measures do not solve poverty. This is why Singapore has continually paved our own way since the beginning. We carefully study the experiences of others, taking note of where they have succeeded and failed. We introduce significant innovations that work for us, for our ethos, for our society. This is the Singapore way.
Over the last decade, we have made progress in uplifting lower-wage workers, and reducing disparities in wages. Our income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, has declined to its lowest level over two decades.
Workfare and Progressive Wages are our key strategies to uplift our lower-wage workers. These strategies are working. I will make several adjustments to ensure they continue to deliver results. [ Please refer to Annex E-1 . ]
First, I will enhance the Workfare Income Supplement scheme from next year.
I will raise the qualifying income cap from $2,500 to $3,000. This ensures that we continue to cover lower-wage workers, even as their wages grow.
I will also raise Workfare payouts. Lower-wage senior workers will qualify for a maximum annual payout of $4,900, up from $4,200 today.
Second, I will raise the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS). All local employees at companies that hire foreign workers must be paid the LQS. [ Please refer to " Clarification by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance ", Official Report, 16 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 123, Correction By Written Statement section. ]
The LQS for full-time workers will be raised from $1,400 to $1,600 from this year. The minimum hourly rate will be increased from $9 to $10.50 per hour. This increase ensures we keep pace with wage growth.
Third, I will provide more support for employers who raise the wages of their lower-wage workers. In 2022, I introduced the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS), where the Government co-funds the wage increases of lower-wage workers with employers.
I know employers are concerned with rising business costs in today’s economy. So, the Government will do its part to help. I will raise the co-funding levels for this year, from a maximum of 30%, to a maximum of 50%.
I will also raise the PWCS wage ceiling from $2,500 to $3,000 in 2025, in tandem with the increase in the qualifying income cap for Workfare.
To provide for these enhancements, I will top up the PWCS Fund by $1 billion.
Besides uplifting lower-wage workers, we also want to improve wages across different professions. There will always be differences in wages in any society. But too large a gap creates unhealthy levels of anxiety and stress. Parents and children may get caught up in an education arms race, or may feel pressured to prioritise careers only in a few traditional fields, instead of focusing on their individual strengths and talents.
In fact, the vast majority of Singaporeans in the Forward Singapore engagements welcome broader definitions of success. We want more diverse pathways so that every individual can strive to be the best possible version of themselves. This also means that we must accord greater value to those who are skilled in technical hands-on abilities, as well as those with the social and empathetic traits to excel in service jobs. In particular, the wages and career prospects of our ITE graduates should not be too far below their polytechnic- and university-going peers.
I recently met some recent ITE graduates. I was inspired by their personal stories, and their enthusiasm to deepen the skills they have acquired at ITE.
One of them, Matthew Francis Thanarajoo, graduated from ITE in 2021 with a Higher Nitec in Mechatronics. He is now pursuing a Diploma in Mechatronics at Temasek Polytechnic and honing his skills in automation and robotics. These experiences have equipped him with confidence to pursue his aspirations in engineering. He will be representing Singapore at the WorldSkills competition later this year in France and we wish him the very best. [ Applause. ]
We want to encourage and support more young ITE graduates in their upskilling efforts, so they can excel in a profession they have trained in, and get themselves onto a better career and wage trajectory. I will therefore provide more support for ITE graduates aged 30 and below through a new ITE Progression Award.
There are two parts to the Award.
First, I will provide a $5,000 top-up to the Post-Secondary Education Accounts of ITE graduates when they enrol in a diploma programme. This will help to offset the costs of obtaining a diploma.
Second, when these students attain their diplomas, I will provide a further $10,000 top-up to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) Ordinary Accounts. This will give them a head-start in purchasing a home or saving for retirement.
Sir, this new Award is a significant investment in our ITE graduates. It represents our continuing commitment to uplift them, and to better equip them in their journey of lifelong learning.
Besides tackling inequality, we must also uphold social mobility.
Up to now, Singapore has fared better than other advanced economies. But we must continue to pay special attention to children from less well-off families, to ensure they have access to full and fair opportunities early in life.
Many of these families are already taking steps to build better lives for themselves, but they may find it hard to sustain progress. We know that they often face complex challenges, including marital stress, existing debts, or even motivation and self-confidence issues.
Under the enhanced ComLink (ComLink+), we are providing more customised support for these families. We are getting family coaches and volunteer befrienders to work directly with these families. They will jointly develop action plans to improve their life circumstances, and the coaches will provide additional support to the families, so as to encourage and motivate them towards these goals.
The additional support will be rolled out in the form of ComLink+ Progress Packages. This is yet another major innovation in our social policy landscape. [ Please refer to Annex E-2 . ]
For example, adults in the family can each receive payouts of up to $600 every quarter, through a combination of cash and CPF, if they secure a job and stay employed.
Those who make voluntary contributions to their CPF will receive matching grants from the Government to grow their savings faster. This, combined with existing schemes like the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, will help these families buy their own homes.
We will also partner with corporates and community groups to implement the ComLink+ Progress Packages. The donors can provide additional financial support to these families, and contribute in other ways, like befriending and mentoring, to help them get back on their feet again.
Sir, in this Budget, we are taking further steps to ensure that all Singaporeans have opportunities to take on work they find meaningful and fulfilling, build on their talents, give their best, and be rewarded fairly for it. This is how we keep the Singapore Dream alive and well for all our people.
The Government will do our part. But I want to emphasise that this is not just about the Government doing more. We also need our employers, community groups, as well as families and individuals themselves, to step up. Together, we can and we will build – a fairer, a more equal, and a more inclusive Singapore. [ Applause. ]
Next, let me touch on our plans to build a Singapore made for families – an endearing home for all of us to sink roots, grow up and grow old in.
Families are the bedrock of our society, and we will support their needs at every stage of life.
Let me start with support for our children, to give them a strong foundation in life.
We will continue to take steps to improve preschool affordability. At Government-supported preschools, we extend generous subsidies, so that out-of-pocket expenses are kept affordable.
We will lower the fees further so that full-day preschool expenses for dual-income families will be comparable to those of primary school and after-school student care.
We will do so in two stages. I will reduce monthly childcare fee caps in Government-supported preschools in 2025, to $640 for Anchor Operators and $680 for Partner Operators. This is before the childcare subsidies which all families will benefit from. I will make another move to reduce fee caps in 2026. The details will be announced later.
I will also enhance existing preschool subsidies for lower-income families. Currently, more subsidies are given to children with working mothers. I will extend these higher subsidies to all children from lower-income families, including those with non-working mothers. This will benefit up to 17,000 children. [ Applause. ]
In schools, we will do more to help our children develop the competencies and values they need to thrive in a more unpredictable future.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is placing more emphasis on competencies like adaptive and inventive thinking, communication skills and civic literacy.
We want to encourage and recognise students who demonstrate such competencies, including by enhancing the Edusave awards.
I will therefore top up the Edusave Endowment Fund by $2 billion to support these and other education initiatives.
For young couples who are getting ready to settle down and form their own families, timely access to affordable housing is critical.
We are helping first-timer families by ramping up Build-To-Order (BTO) supply and giving these families greater priority.
We are also making flats in choicer locations more affordable, in a way that is fair and inclusive, through the Prime, Plus and Standard framework. This will be implemented later this year for new BTO projects.
Some couples have already booked their BTO flats, but they may like to have a place to stay temporarily, while they wait for the completion of their flats. This is especially the case for those with young children.
Currently, HDB offers subsidised rental housing under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS).
HDB receives many applications for the scheme, and it is ramping up supply to meet the demand. But in the interim, we want to do more to support such young families with urgent housing needs.
I will therefore provide a PPHS (Open Market) Voucher for one year, to support eligible families who rent a HDB flat in the open market.
In this Budget, I will do more for families of persons with special needs or disabilities.
We know that families of children with special needs face greater cost pressures due to higher fees for education and care services. Each student at a Special Education (SPED) school already benefits from more subsidies than a primary school student in a mainstream school. But the fees at most SPED schools remain higher than those of mainstream schools due to the higher underlying costs.
We are studying further moves to alleviate the cost pressures on these families. As a first step, I will reduce the maximum monthly fees at SPED schools to $90, down from $150 today. I will also lower the fee caps at all Special Student Care Centres to reduce families’ out-of-pocket expenses.
For adults with disabilities, I will provide more support for their employment and integration into the community. I will expand spaces in Sheltered Workshops and Day Activity Centres where they can undergo skills training and launch more Enabling Services Hubs to provide community support to persons with disabilities and their caregivers.
The respective Ministers will share more on each of these moves at the Committee of Supply.
I will do more to support the retirement needs of our seniors.
Let me start with some adjustments to the CPF system. [ Please refer to Annex F-1 . ]
First, in line with the recommendations of the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers, we will continue with the next step of planned CPF contribution rate increases for senior workers. I will increase the CPF contribution rates for those aged 55 to 65 by a further 1.5 percentage points in 2025.
I will also provide the CPF Transition Offset to employers for another year, to cover half of the increase in employer contributions for 2025. This will help to cushion the impact on business costs.
Second, I will raise the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) from 2025. The ERS is the maximum amount that members can put into their CPF Retirement Accounts to receive CPF payouts.
I will increase the ERS from three times the Basic Retirement Sum, to four times from 2025. This means the ERS next year will be $426,000. This will allow more members aged 55 and above to fully commit their accumulated CPF savings to receive higher CPF payouts, should they wish to do so.
Third, we will take steps to rationalise the CPF system. Today, members aged 55 and above have a Special Account (SA) and a Retirement Account (RA). From next year, we will close the SA for those aged 55 and above. The SA savings will be transferred to the RA up to the Full Retirement Sum, where they will continue to earn the long-term interest rate.
The remaining SA savings will be transferred to the Ordinary Account (OA). But members can voluntarily transfer their OA savings to the RA at any time, up to the ERS, to earn higher interest, and to receive higher retirement payouts.
I will also enhance the retirement support schemes for seniors who need more help.
The Silver Support Scheme provides quarterly payments to seniors who had low incomes during their working years and have less family support. I will raise the qualifying per capita household income threshold for Silver Support from $1,800 to $2,300, and increase the quarterly payments by 20%, to keep pace with inflation.
The Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (MRSS) helps Singaporeans aged 55 to 75 with less CPF savings to save more, by providing dollar-for-dollar matching for cash top-ups to their CPF accounts. [ Please refer to " Clarification by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance ", Official Report, 16 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 123, Correction By Written Statement section. ]
I will make several adjustments to the scheme.
I will extend the MRSS to those above the age of 70. This will enable more Singaporeans to meet their retirement needs, with help from their families, employers and the community.
I will increase the annual matching cap from $600 to $2,000, and set a lifetime matching cap of $20,000.
Currently, we provide a tax relief to encourage Singaporeans to top up their CPF. But the matching grant is already a significant benefit extended by the Government. So, we will remove the tax relief for the cash top-ups that attract the matching grant.
These changes to Silver Support and the MRSS will take effect from 2025.
“Young Seniors” who currently in their 50s and early 60s will get an additional boost for their retirement through the Majulah Package. This was announced by Prime Minister Lee at last year’s National Day Rally.
While the package is geared towards supporting Young Seniors, Pioneer and Merdeka Generation seniors will benefit too. In fact, all Singaporeans born in 1973 or earlier will receive at least one component of the Majulah Package. Let me explain. [ Please refer to Annex F-2 . ]
First, I will provide an Earn and Save Bonus, to help seniors earning up to $6,000 per month accumulate more retirement savings. They will receive a yearly bonus of up to $1,000 for as long as they work, with more going to those who earn lower incomes.
Second, I will provide a one-time Retirement Savings Bonus of between $1,000 and $1,500 to seniors with retirement savings below the Basic Retirement Sum.
Both bonuses will be for seniors who live in a property with Annual Value of $25,000 or less, and own no more than one property.
Third, I will provide a one-time MediSave Bonus to all seniors born in 1973 or earlier. Young Seniors with less means will be given the higher tier of $1,500; and all other seniors will receive $750. The Minister for Manpower will share more details at the Committee of Supply.
In all, the Majulah Package will benefit about 1.6 million Singaporeans, at a total lifetime cost of $8.2 billion. To honour this commitment without burdening future generations, I will set aside $7.5 billion in a new Fund – the Majulah Package Fund. This will be sufficient to cover the lifetime cost of the Package, after accounting for investment income of the Fund.
Another significant undertaking is healthcare. Over the years, we have invested heavily to ensure healthcare remains affordable and accessible for all. The Ministry of Health (MOH)’s annual budget has tripled within a decade.
We have put this spending to good use. We are devoting more resources to areas of growing importance, like preventive health, support for our seniors and mental health and well-being, as recently affirmed by this House. We also continue to enjoy improvements in health outcomes, with Singaporeans living longer and healthier lives.
But with a rapidly ageing population, the fiscal pressures of healthcare will only grow. As a responsible Government, we have to plan ahead and set aside sufficient resources to keep healthcare affordable for all.
The GST increase was meant for this purpose. Essentially, we are pre-funding the rising healthcare expenditure by increasing GST now, instead of waiting to do so in the future. Because if we wait, we will end up imposing a heavier burden on our future selves and our children.
Of course, individuals also have a part to play. That is why we launched Healthier SG to empower all Singaporeans to take charge of our own health. While it is still early days, the momentum is encouraging. More than 700,000 Singapore residents have enrolled in Healthier SG.
One of them is Mdm Rubiah, who turns 69 this year. She credits her Healthier SG consultation for timely advice on how best to manage her health. Today, she is monitoring her blood pressure daily, cutting down on ice cream and "keropok" in her diet, and staying active through exercise classes and nature walks. And she has also helped to spread the word, by volunteering at a Healthier SG roadshow.
Sir, I urge all seniors to follow in the footsteps of Mdm Rubiah. Heed your doctor’s advice, participate in programmes that help you stay healthy and even pass it on by contributing as a senior volunteer.
Even with healthier lifestyles, all of us will still need some form of medical care as we get older and especially nearer to the end of life. We must expect healthcare costs, including medical insurance premiums, to rise, even after generous Government subsidies.
We want to ensure that all Singaporeans, including the self-employed and those not working, are able to build up their medical savings in anticipation of these rising costs. I will therefore provide all adult Singaporeans aged 21 to 50 a one-time MediSave Bonus of up to $300.
This will benefit about 1.4 million Singaporeans and help them to cover their smaller medical bills and insurance premiums. [ Please refer to Annex F-3 . ]
Coupled with the Majulah Package for older cohorts, we will collectively provide a MediSave Bonus for about three million Singaporeans this year.
To provide more support for healthcare costs, I will also update the per capita household income thresholds for our healthcare and associated social support subsidy schemes. Such schemes include MediShield Life premium subsidies, Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) subsidies for primary care, and subsidies for outpatient and inpatient treatments at our public hospitals.
The changes to the per capita household income thresholds will mean additional Government spending in healthcare and other related areas of around $300 million per year. More than one million Singaporeans can expect to benefit from higher subsidies.
This will provide greater assurance for healthcare costs, which will also reduce the financial pressures on caregivers. [ Please refer to Annex F-4 . ]
Preventive care is especially important for seniors. Loneliness can do great harm to a senior. They need to stay active and socially connected. This is why we have Age Well SG – it is a new national programme to support seniors to age actively, stay socially connected, and be cared for within their own communities.
I will set aside $3.5 billion for Age Well SG initiatives over the next decade. This includes several components.
First, an expanded network of Active Ageing Centres, so that all seniors can look forward to a wider range of programmes at these centres, from physical exercises to volunteering opportunities.
Second, for seniors with care needs, we will develop more assisted living options, such as Community Care Apartments and better home care arrangements, to empower them to age confidently in their homes and community.
Third, “silver upgrades” to our residential estates, to enable seniors to live more independently and safely in the community. This will cover amenities like therapeutic gardens and barrier-free ramps, and senior-friendly home fittings like wider toilet entrances and shower seats.
Fourth, improvements to our commuter infrastructure for seniors’ mobility and safety. This means more sheltered linkways, bus stops with senior-friendly features, as well as safer and more pedestrian-friendly roads.
Sir, when you combine all of these efforts, the suite of investments we are making – in education, housing, retirement and healthcare – they speak to our steadfast commitment to address the needs of our families and seniors, through every stage of life. Through these investments, we will provide more assurance to all Singaporeans – to set minds at ease, improve lives and well-being and ensure Singapore remains home truly for all of us. [ Applause. ]
Alongside our investments to strengthen our economy and society, we will also make the investments needed to forge a stronger and more united nation. We will safeguard what makes Singapore special and resilient – our commitment to take care of and defend one another, sustain the trust we have in each other and our institutions and build our strong sense of national pride and identity.
Since Independence, we have invested steadily to safeguard our peace and security.
Over the last two decades, we have allocated around 3% to 4% of our GDP annually to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF)’s budget. At the same time, over the past decade, our spending on domestic security has doubled to more than $8 billion, or about 1.3% of our GDP.
We will continue to build and maintain a strong and effective Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Home Team. We will invest in them, and upgrade their capabilities year by year, to protect ourselves from potential aggressors and security threats.
The backbone of our defence and security remains National Service (NS). We owe a huge debt to our NSmen, who have served faithfully and made immeasurable sacrifices for our peace and security.
I will therefore provide $200 in the form of LifeSG credits to all past and present national servicemen, including those enlisting this year. [ Please refer to Annex G-1 . ]
It is a small gesture, but when you add it all up, it will cost us $240 million and benefit 1.2 million NSmen. I hope this will go some way in expressing our appreciation and gratitude to our national servicemen as well as their families for all that they have done and continue to do for our country. [ Applause. ]
In today’s world, defence and security apply not just in the physical environment, but also in the digital domain. Scams, ransomware, data breaches, denial of service and other cyber threats have become increasingly commonplace. The development and adoption of new technologies like AI and quantum computing will also change the threat landscape. Cyber attacks will increase in speed, scale and sophistication.
We have taken steps to strengthen our cyber defence. We established the Digital and Intelligence Service in the SAF. We will establish a new National Cybersecurity Command Centre at the Punggol Digital District to better coordinate cyber defence operations, improve collaboration with industry and academia, and spur innovation in cybersecurity. This will improve our capabilities to monitor, detect, and coordinate our defences against cyber threats.
Besides the conventional areas of security, we need to address an emerging security challenge – and that is energy, but more specifically, the transition to cleaner energy.
In the near to medium term, natural gas, which currently generates almost all of our electricity, will remain critical.
Our natural gas supplies come through pipelines from Indonesia and Malaysia, and in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a range of sources.
We are now planning to build a second LNG terminal to meet our growing electricity needs.
Natural gas is the cleanest of all fossil fuels. But we will not be able to achieve net zero emissions if we continue to rely solely on natural gas. Unfortunately, we do not have many options for clean energy – we have no tidal power, no wind power and not enough land for the mass deployment of solar. So, what do we do?
One way is to import low-carbon electricity. We are making progress on this front. But there is a limit to importing electricity without compromising security. So, we will need other options to decarbonise the rest of our energy supply. That is why we are actively exploring other options.
Hydrogen has the potential as a clean fuel. For now, it is still technologically nascent, costly, and risky. Nevertheless, we have set out a National Hydrogen Strategy to take purposeful steps forward. We will start by testing and deploying ammonia, which is a hydrogen carrier, for power generation and bunkering on Jurong Island.
We are also exploring other energy sources. We are actively studying the possibilities for geothermal power. After all, we do have a hot spring in Sembawang. But this will require deep drilling to assess the potential, and it really remains to be seen if this will be viable.
Further out in the future, we do not rule out nuclear power. Nuclear technologies are advancing rapidly, with smaller, safer and more fuel-efficient designs. We will build up our capabilities, so that we can critically assess the evolving technologies in this space and decide on the feasibility of nuclear deployment one day in the future.
There is considerable uncertainty as to how all these energy pathways will work out. What is clear, however, is that significant effort and costs will be needed to transit from a system powered almost entirely by natural gas today, to one powered largely by clean energy.
We say this is an “energy transition”. “Transition” sounds like a rather innocuous word. But the scale of this so-called transition is massive, and we will need to get it done over the next two decades or so, which is not a lot of time, when you think about the enormity of the task.
For example, to import low-carbon electricity, we will need to invest in submarine cables and upgrade our existing power grid. Or if we decide to scale up the use of hydrogen, we will need to put in place new infrastructure for generation, storage and delivery. All of these investments are costly. They cannot be done by the private sector alone and will likely need some catalytic funding from the Government.
I will therefore set up a Future Energy Fund with an initial injection of $5 billion. This will give us the confidence to invest in good time, put us in a better position to move quickly on critical infrastructure, and enhance our security in clean energy.
The resilience of our nation is not only measured by what we spend, or by our infrastructure and hardware. Rather, our true resilience lies within – in the strong bonds Singaporeans have forged among ourselves and in our collective willingness to take care of each other. Every Singaporean man, woman, and child knows he or she belongs to this island nation, everyone has a place in our society, and each has a role to play in our unfolding Singapore story. That is the essence of Total Defence, which we commemorated for the 40th time yesterday.
We nurture these bonds between Singaporeans by strengthening our culture of giving.
There are many who have done well in Singapore and want to give back, but may not know how or where to start.
We will do more to help donors better appreciate the needs of our society and advise them on how to more effectively direct their resources – financial or non-financial – to support lower-income families. This effort will be led by the Community Foundation of Singapore, in partnership with the Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Community Chest.
In the same spirit, we want to encourage charities to work together to uplift each other and better meet the needs of beneficiaries. I will do so by extending the Charities Capability Fund Collaboration Grant for three years till end-FY2026. This will support collaborative projects among charities to enhance their governance, efficiency and capabilities.
Doing good also extends beyond our shores. Many Singaporeans readily step forward to support those affected by humanitarian crises overseas. We saw this in the relief efforts following the devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria last year; and also in the generous donations in response to the human tragedy arising from the Israel-Hamas conflict.
To encourage Singaporeans to support those in need overseas, I will introduce an Overseas Humanitarian Assistance Tax Deduction Scheme. This will provide 100% tax deductions for cash donations made towards overseas emergency humanitarian assistance causes through designated charities. This will run for four years as a pilot scheme. [ Please refer to Annex G-2 . ]
A stronger culture of giving will bind us closer together and make us a more caring and gracious society.
Another way to strengthen our solidarity is through the common experiences that we all partake in. The arts and sports provide us with the platforms to do so.
Let me start with the arts. The arts help to express our unique Singaporean culture, strengthen our shared bonds and make Singapore a distinctive home.
The National Arts Council (NAC) has refreshed Our SG Arts Plan to drive transformation efforts in the arts sector. We will support this plan by investing $100 million over the next four years.
As part of this plan, we aim to make the arts more accessible to all Singaporeans. We will unlock more opportunities and touchpoints for our artists to infuse the arts everywhere in our city and our communities.
The additional investments will also strengthen the foundation for a more vibrant arts industry. NAC will support arts groups to develop and showcase their diverse arts offerings as well as strengthen the talent pool. Self-employed artists will also benefit from more development opportunities to broaden and deepen their skills.
Apart from the arts, there are few endeavours that can rally the country and ignite the Singapore spirit like sports. From the grassroots to the global stage, from community participation to high performance, sports bring Singaporeans from all walks of life together.
At the grassroots level, we will enable more Singaporeans to participate in sports by continuing to support the Sports Facilities Master Plan. With this, Singaporeans can look forward to new and rejuvenated sports centres in Toa Payoh, Punggol and Clementi, as well as more sports and recreational facilities in our neighbourhoods.
Many Singaporeans want to support our national athletes and we will provide them with more platforms for them to do so. We will anchor more major sports events in Singapore, so that our athletes can compete in top-tier competitions against the world’s best on home ground. This will allow more Singaporeans to cheer for Team Singapore.
We also have the One Team Singapore Fund, which provides dollar-for-dollar matching for donations towards Team Singapore athletes. I will provide a $20 million top-up for the One Team Singapore Fund and extend it till end-FY2027.
In addition, I will broaden the scope of donations eligible for matching to cover athletes in emerging sports, like pickleball, tchoukball and powerlifting. I will also include SportCares, which provides opportunities for vulnerable children and youth, persons with disabilities and seniors to participate in sporting programmes.
The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth will share more about our arts and sports initiatives at the Committee of Supply.
Sir, everywhere in the world, we see societies becoming increasingly divided and nations more and more fragile. Economic growth or social transfers alone cannot guarantee that we succeed.
This Budget therefore invests in our national resilience – from ensuring the effectiveness of our military and domestic security, to safeguarding our energy security and building a stronger national identity. These will shield us from external threats and the forces that threaten to pull us apart. Only then can we be confident that Singapore will endure.
Our ability to invest in our economy, our society and our resilience has to be anchored on a strong fiscal position.
Fiscal responsibility has always been a key part of the Singapore DNA. We spend our resources wisely, and we take care to provide for our children and grandchildren. This is why I made major revenue moves in the last two Budgets. These moves have put us on a stronger fiscal footing for the next decade, while ensuring that our overall system of public finances remains fair and progressive.
This year, in light of concerns over cost of living, I will provide a Personal Income Tax Rebate of 50% for the Year of Assessment 2024. This will be capped at $200 so that the benefits go mostly to our middle-income workers. The rebate will cost the Government $350 million.
Currently, taxpayers may claim a range of dependant-related reliefs, if their dependants have an annual income of $4,000 or less.
We have received feedback from members of public, tax practitioners, as well as Labour Members of Parliament, to consider increasing the dependant income threshold in view of rising cost of living and wage levels. So, with effect from the Year of Assessment 2025, I will increase the annual income threshold for dependant-related reliefs from $4,000 to $8,000.
In Budget 2022, I announced a two-step increase in Property Tax rates for residential properties. This was meant as a wealth tax, targeted at all investment properties, as well as the higher-end segment of owner-occupied properties.
Prior to that Budget announcement, market rents had been relatively flat for the preceding five years. But from 2022 onwards, market rents increased significantly due to the combination of strong demand and COVID-related supply constraints. As a result, the Annual Values (AVs) also increased sharply. We had originally expected the Property Tax changes to impact mainly the top 7% of owner-occupied residential properties. The AV increases resulted in the proportion of affected owner-occupied properties nearly doubling to 13%.
In light of these market trends, I will raise all the AV bands of the owner-occupier residential Property Tax rates with effect from 1 January 2025. Currently, Property Tax is charged on the bands of AV from $8,000 to over $100,000. I will raise the lower threshold from $8,000 to $12,000 and the highest band from over $100,000 to over $140,000, and corresponding adjustments will be made to the bands in between. This will still uphold the intent of the Property Tax changes and ensure that those residing in higher-value properties continue to pay their fair share of taxes.
The Government had provided a rebate to cushion the impact of the Property Tax changes this year. We will continue to closely monitor the property market and will provide another rebate in 2025 if needed.
We recognise that there are retirees living in higher-end residential homes, who face cash flow issues when paying their Property Tax bills. To help them, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) will offer a 24-month instalment plan without any interest. They can apply for this via IRAS’ website or contact IRAS for more details.
Next, I will adjust the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for the purchase of residential properties.
Today, married couples with an existing residential property can enjoy an ABSD refund on their replacement private property under the ABSD concession for Singaporean married couples.
To better support seniors who wish to right-size, I will extend the concession to single Singapore Citizens aged 55 and above. In other words, these seniors will be able to claim a refund of ABSD paid on their replacement private property, if they sell their first property within six months after purchasing a lower-value replacement private property. This extension will take effect from today.
I will also introduce some flexibility to the ABSD regime for housing developers. Housing developers are now granted an ABSD remission, provided they sell all the units in their development within a prescribed sale timeline. But despite their best efforts, the developers sometimes face difficulties in meeting this timeline requirement. They are then subject to a full clawback of the ABSD.
I will lower the ABSD clawback rate, should developers sell at least 90% of each development within the prescribed sale timeline. This ensures that housing supply continues to be released promptly, while providing some flexibility to the developers. The details of this change will be released in a statement later today.
Next, on Corporate Income Tax – I will make significant adjustments to our tax system to take into consideration the international Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) 2.0 initiative.
To recap, BEPS comprises two pillars. Pillar 1 aims to reallocate taxing rights on profits to market jurisdictions. When implemented, it will result in revenue losses for Singapore. Pillar 1 has been delayed for now, and the implementation date remains unclear. Pillar 2 will introduce a global minimum effective tax rate of 15% for large MNE groups.
Last Budget, I announced our intention to implement Pillar 2 from 2025 and that we would monitor and adjust the timeline if needed.
Since then, several jurisdictions have moved. The European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan and Korea are implementing Pillar 2 rules from 2024. Others, like Hong Kong and Malaysia, have announced their plans to do so from 2025.
We will therefore move ahead with two components of Pillar 2, as planned.
The first is the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR). A jurisdiction that introduces this will subject the overseas profits of MNE groups parented in that jurisdiction to a minimum effective tax rate of 15%. We will implement the IIR. In other words, MNE groups that are parented in Singapore will have to pay a minimum effective tax rate of 15% on their groups’ overseas profits, regardless of where they operate.
The second component is the Domestic Top-up Tax (DTT). This applies to the Singapore profits of MNE groups operating here. Without this tax, these MNE groups would have had to pay their parent jurisdictions the effective tax rate of 15% on their Singapore profits. Therefore, it is in our interest to implement the DTT, so that we collect the tax, rather than have it go somewhere else.
The IIR and the DTT will take effect for businesses’ financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025 and will apply to large MNE groups with global revenue of at least €750 million annually.
There is another component of Pillar 2: the Undertaxed Profits Rule. This is effectively a backstop, as it will allow Singapore to collect a share of the top-up tax on any MNE with operations here, if any portion of its income overseas has not been subject to the minimum tax.
We will consider this at a later stage. With the DTT and IIR, we are already making major changes to our corporate tax regime. We will focus on implementing these changes first, and ensure a smooth rollout for the affected companies.
In the short term, the implementation of Pillar 2 will provide additional revenues. But it is uncertain how much this will be and how long it will last. We may even see a reduction in our tax base, should MNEs shift some of their activities to other jurisdictions in response to the new business environment.
In any case, whatever additional revenues we obtain from Pillar 2 will need to be reinvested for Singapore to stay competitive in a post-BEPS world.
MNEs are now re-evaluating their plans and strategies. Other governments are also enhancing and refreshing their investment promotion toolkits.
That is why we are introducing the Refundable Investment Credit, which I mentioned earlier. We will also have to spend more to support new investments, research and innovation activities, and to sustain our economic competitiveness.
Overall, given the significant spending required to stay competitive, at this point, I do not expect the new moves to generate net revenue gains for Singapore on a sustained basis.
I will also make some further tax adjustments, to ensure our tax system remains fair and competitive. Details of the tax changes are in the Annex to the Budget. [ Please refer to Annex H-1 . ]
Sir, last year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) released a set of projections of our medium-term fiscal outlook. These showed that Government spending has been rising steadily over the years. Our spending in the late 2000s was around 15% of GDP. Over the span of ten years, it has grown by three percentage points of GDP, to around 18% of GDP.
We expect spending to continue rising in this decade. Healthcare is one key driver for the increase. But there are additional spending needs, fuelling the increase. We will have to spend more for the major moves to decarbonise our economy, as I explained earlier.
As part of Forward Singapore, we are making significant policy shifts to strengthen our social safety nets and provide more assurance to Singaporeans. I have just introduced some of these measures in this year’s Budget. We will spend around $5 billion on Forward Singapore policy moves in FY2024 and close to $40 billion in total by the end of this decade.
In our projections, MOF had assessed that Government spending will increase to around 20% of GDP by 2030. For now, that remains our assessment. Assuming we stay within this range of spending increase, we should have sufficient revenues to maintain a balanced budget over the coming years.
But the medium-term fiscal position is tight. Because there are so many pressures for us to spend more, be it on healthcare, social needs, or the energy transition, and these are all big-ticket items. We will have to manage these expenditures carefully, or we will end up with a significant funding gap.
We can already see this happening in many other advanced economies where public finances are on an unsustainable path, and the fiscal systems are at risk of breaking. We must never allow this to happen in Singapore. Instead, let us uphold the ethos of fiscal discipline and responsibility that has served us well, and ensure that our fiscal position always remains balanced, sound and sustainable.
Sir, let me now summarise our fiscal position for both FY2023 and FY2024. For FY2023, our revenue collections were better than expected. This was mainly due to higher Corporate Income Tax collections.
The additional revenue will allow us to pay for new spending, including the $7.5 billion injection to the Majulah Package Fund.
Accounting for both our revenue upside and higher spending, we expect to end FY2023 with a deficit of $3.6 billion, or 0.5% of GDP.
For FY2024, we are budgeting a small surplus of $0.8 billion, or 0.1% of GDP, which is essentially a balanced fiscal position. The overall stance is appropriate, as we are providing targeted support for households and businesses, even as the economy is projected to operate at around potential. [ Please refer to Annex H-2 . ]
Mr Speaker, let me conclude.
We are living in a world which will become more violent, more fragmented, and more unpredictable in the years to come. We wish this were not so. We will try our best, working with others in the international community, to shape better global outcomes.
But we also have to be realistic. Great catastrophes often seem unthinkable until they happen. Things may well get worse before they get better. So, we must be mentally prepared and take steps now to adapt to this messy world.
This is not the first time that we’ve found ourselves in such a situation. Since our Independence, we have had to adjust to all sorts of external disruptions and shocks.
The British deciding to withdraw troops from Singapore in 1967; the global oil crises in 1973 and 1979; the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997; the dot-com bust in the early 2000s; 9/11; SARS; the Global Financial Crisis of 2008; and of course, more recently the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each time, we were able to weather the storms and emerge stronger.
I believe we can do so again in our road ahead – so long as we stay united, work together, and continue to keep faith in one another.
Budget 2024 is about acting on this belief. We are helping Singaporeans with their cost-of-living concerns. We are taking major steps to advance our Forward Singapore agenda.
We will grow the economy. We must. For growth is the pre-requisite to create better jobs and raise living standards for all.
We will equip everyone to realise their potential and ensure that everyone benefits from our nation’s progress.
We will strengthen our system of risk pooling and social support, so that Singaporeans can be better assured through every life stage, and better equipped to bounce back from every setback.
We will fortify our resilience, solidarity and unity, so that we remain strong and effective against any challenges or threats.
We are not the only country adapting to a different world. Countries everywhere are searching for solutions too. Many find it hard to implement bold and long-term plans.
But we can make it happen in Singapore. We are able to do so because: (a) our fiscal position is healthy and sustainable; (b) our Government has the trust of Singaporeans; (c) our people are united, and (d) our social compact is strong.
These are the critical ingredients behind the Singapore story. What we have today is rare, remarkable and unique. Let us cherish it, treasure it and harness these strengths to remain a shining red dot in a troubled world.
During the dark days of COVID-19, which feels like a bad dream to all of us now, I visited Riverside Secondary School. The teacher had asked the students to imagine what they would be doing in 10 years’ time and to write a letter to their future selves.
One student – Levin Ong – wrote, and I quote: “Dear future Levin, I hope you have been well in these past ten years. I am grateful for how Singapore is dealing with COVID-19… the challenges I face are small compared to others during this difficult time. I want the world to be a better place and contribute back to society to the best of my ability. I hope, by 2030, I have made a better world for everyone.”
Hope for the future. Giving back to society. Each one of us doing our best to make this a better place for all. That is what this is about.
Mr Speaker, let us draw inspiration from young Singaporeans like Levin, move forward with confidence and build our shared future together. Sir, I beg to move. [ Applause. ]
Mr Speaker : The Question is, "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the Financial Year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025."
In accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order No 89, the debate now stands adjourned. Debate to be resumed on what day?
Mr Lawrence Wong : Monday, 26 February 2024, Sir.
Mr Speaker : So be it.