Pritam Singh presses for clarity on Singapore’s public spending as surplus widens
The Workers’ Party chief said ‘public cynicism’ can grow when Singaporeans do not see a clear accounting of how these funds are used
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday at the start of the budget debate, Singh also took aim at the timing of the last general election, saying it was called shortly after global trade tensions flared.
“The PAP (People’s Action Party) government dissolved parliament just days after the Trump administration’s announcement,” he said, referring to the so-called Liberation Day tariffs unveiled by the United States last year.
“The political timing of the general elections was calculated to put the PAP in the most advantageous position, with tariff uncertainty serving as a rallying call for voters to back the tried and tested.
“Since then, however, there has been remarkably little information of the sectoral tariffs and their actual impact on Singapore,” he said.
Despite the “doom and gloom” surrounding the tariffs then, Singh noted that the government now begins its new term “with what may be the greatest fiscal surplus any PAP government has seen in decades”.