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This Week in AsiaPolitics

Analysis | Singapore’s 2020 budget contains clear signals the PAP is ready for a general election

  • The huge amount of money doled out and the absence of bad news in this year’s Budget are signals the polls are imminent
  • The coronavirus outbreak is the perfect platform for the People’s Action Party to remind Singaporeans why it has been the only party ever to hold power

Reading Time:4 minutes
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Singapore’s Heng Swee Keat is the next leader of the PAP and the country’s future prime minister. Photo: Bloomberg
Aaron Low
Before he began his budget speech, Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat sheepishly told parliament that he would speak for a tad longer than usual.
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In years past, he would confine his speech to two files, said Heng, who is also Singapore’s deputy prime minister – but because of the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 disease, he had to expand it.

“To support the national effort, the budget file grew and grew. So today, I have three files instead of two. So please be patient,” he said to a few chuckles from the chamber.

The speech may have been long, but it was clear on one message: the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is ready for the general election.

The first clear signal the polls are imminent is the huge amount of money doled out by the government this year. The government recorded a gigantic budget deficit of S$10.9 billion (US$7.8 billion), largely due to transfers to companies and households.

A big chunk – about S$8.3 billion – went towards restructuring the economy, a largely middle-term objective. Another S$4 billion went to helping companies cope with the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus, which could result in Singapore entering its first recession in more than a decade this year.

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