The theme of the Budget 2024 is Building Our Shared Future Together. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said that the Budget aims to address the immediate challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to lay the foundations for a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future for Singapore.
The Priority of the Budget
The biggest priority of the Budget 2024 is to support the recovery and transformation of the economy, which has been severely affected by the pandemic. The Budget will provide targeted and timely measures to help businesses and workers cope with the disruptions and uncertainties, as well as to seize new opportunities and growth areas in the post-pandemic world².
Some of the key measures to support the economic recovery and transformation include:
- Extending and enhancing the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), which subsidizes the wages of local workers, especially in the hardest-hit sectors such as aviation, tourism, and food services.
- Introducing the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC), which provides a one-off grant of $10,000 to eligible enterprises to invest in skills development and enterprise transformation.
- Launching the Industry Transformation Initiative (ITI), which allocates $1 billion over five years to support the development and adoption of industry-led solutions and standards, such as digital platforms, data analytics, and cybersecurity.
- Expanding the Scale-up SG programme, which helps high-growth local enterprises to scale up and go global, by increasing the number of participating enterprises from 25 to 50 per year.
- Enhancing the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), which connects Singaporean enterprises and talent with overseas innovation ecosystems, by adding new cities such as Berlin, Dubai, and Seoul.
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The Impact of the Budget
The Budget 2024 is expected to have a positive impact on the economy and society, by helping to mitigate the short-term pain and create long-term gain. According to DPM Wong, the Budget will help to save jobs and livelihoods, boost business confidence and cash flow, and accelerate the digital and green transformation of the economy. The Budget will also help to strengthen the social safety net, enhance the quality of life, and foster a greater sense of solidarity and shared responsibility among Singaporeans.
The Budget 2024 is also expected to have a fiscal impact, as it will incur a deficit of $10.9 billion, or 2.1 percent of GDP, for the financial year 2024. This is the second consecutive year of deficit, following the record deficit of $74.2 billion, or 15.4 per cent of GDP, for the financial year 2023. However, DPM Wong said that the deficit is necessary and prudent, given the unprecedented nature and scale of the crisis, and that the government has sufficient reserves to finance the deficit without drawing on past reserves. He also said that the government will ensure fiscal sustainability and discipline in the medium to long term, by reviewing the revenue and expenditure policies and maintaining a balanced budget over each term of government.
