Singapore Profit » Singapore’s Economy

What’s Up For Singapore Budget 2011?

Sarah Tan — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:41:21 +0000

Singaporeans anticipate February 18 as the date, according to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, when Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam discloses plans for this year’s Budget. Prime Minister Loong was able to give clues on how the Budget will be allocated, saying it would be for the good of Singapore in the long-term.

Focus on healthcare and senior citizens is one of the popular wishes and proposal Singapore citizens and permanent residents listed on the Budget Wishlist 2011, an online wishlist made available for Singaporeans and PR holders. However, reduction of personal income tax topped the wishlist for the 2011 Budget.

Singapore is lucky to have and maintain a strong currency in the midst of regional inflation. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) through Mr. Tharman stated that it aims to cover more than just one group of Singaporeans.

If this statement very well means that all society classes including the sandwiched class or more formally known as middle class, will be taken into consideration in terms of Budget allocation, then a bigger number of citizens might just take a liking to the Prime Minister’s way of answering to the calls of Singaporeans, supported by the Budget Challenge 2011.

The Budget Challenge 2011 is a formal debate participated by teams from college institutions. It aims to allow participants to appreciate the cut-and-thrust of debate with exposure to public policy , financing issues, and parliamentary procedures.
The debate is heard at the Parliament House until February 16 for the Final round where 5 teams compete for their proposals to be considered by the MOF.

It makes sense for any government to focus on long-term benefits for the whole of Singapore, rather than short-term which could temporarily benefit just a few.
The vagueness of Mr. Tharman’s statements trigger the growing excitement or rather anxiety of the people toward February 18; the said date when the Budget will finally be delivered.

Inflation Hits 5% Next Year

Sarah Tan — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:48:48 +0000

Inflation is set to hit 5% next year in the first quarter. What does this mean? It means that if your returns from fixed deposits or investments are less than 5%, you actually lose money because the value of your money cannot keep up with the inflation rate.

Interest rates from fixed deposits have not increased, probably because there is a flush of money because people are afraid of the volatile stock market.

The inflation rate is due to rising costs and wages. If you are unable to predict the stock market, and at the same time cannot earn enough interest with your existing money, then how do you build up your retirement fund?

I’ve found a software that accurately predicts the stock market prediction. More on that another time.

inflation

Singapore’s GDP increases by 6.4%

Sarah Tan — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:42:53 +0000

Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product increased by 6.4%, and the Consumer Price Index increased by 2.9% compared to a year ago. Economists were expecting a 5.1% increase. The Consumer Price Index change is due to costlier fuel prices and an increase in the goods and services tax. Hence, inflation could be between 1.5% and 2% this year, and it may even go up to 3% next year. This was in a Bloomberg Report.

Some of the sectors that had done very well include:

Construction Industry 15.5 percent

Manufacturing Industry 12.3 percent

Services 8.1 percent

The Singapore economy is at the risk of overheating due to inflation. Due to Singapore’s expansion, inflation and private home costs have increased tremendously. Despite the huge increase, prices do not appear to be falling anytime soon. This could mean that private property is getting out of rich for normal Singaporeans.

What does this mean for us? The interest rate your money is currently getting has to be higher than the inflation rate. If not, that means your money is depreciating, and what you have now will not be enough for the future. To beat this, your investment return must be higher than 2% in order to stay ahead.

What the Central Bank is doing is to let our currency appreciate, so that imports will be cheaper. For those who are dealing with forex, they need to take note of this. Already, the American dollar has fallen to new lows as compared to the Singapore dollar. It used to be as high as S$1.78 for US$1, but now, it only costs S$1.46 to buy an American dollar. It is also a good time to buy goods from US now, since it costs less than before. The only problem is the earnings I make in US dollars have fallen.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com