What can be expected during the reign of Lawrence Wong

Lawrence Wong, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, speaking at the summit of the Milkin Asia Institute in Singapore, on September 13, 2023. The country’s Prime Minister is scheduled to achieve the budget on February 18.

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Singapore is preparing for its first budget during the era of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and analysts expect more support for both families and companies.

Wong, who took the leadership of Lee Hsen Long last year, will offer a budget on February 18. General elections are scheduled to be held by November.

In a video posted on his YouTube channel On Tuesday, Wong said this year’s budget “will deal with urgent concerns that all of you have sparked cost pressure, as well as facing long -term challenges to ensure that Singapore can move forward and move forward in this troubled world.”

In February 4 note, analysts from Maybank indicated that with Singapore’s sixtieth celebration of independence, the government is likely to offer the generous “SG60 budget”.

Home support and business

Maybank analysts said this budget is likely to include a set of support measures for families to bear the costs of living, such as cash, consumption vouchers and discounts on utility bills, as well as more opportunities for workers to improve their skills through courses.

Bank of America expects that the next budget will be a “sense of contentment”, saying that they expect measures “aimed at alleviating the cost of living pressure to form the budget axis 2025.” A new middle -aged package and medium income groups may be possible, given signs in the New Year’s Day. “

He has New New Year’s Day, “We will provide more targeted assistance to those who find it difficult to overcome, especially the elderly and low -income groups. But we will not ignore other sectors, including medium and medium income of middle age, both parents and children Youngness.

On the Business Front, Maybank Books, there may be more discounts for corporate tax, as well as discounts on property taxes for commercial property.

There may be more improvements to the current plans to help companies on the table, such as grants to reduce the cost of workforce.

Maybank analysts also indicated that they do not expect more property cooling measures or wealth taxes, noting that a “significant height” of property and income taxes was implemented in 2022 and 2023.

“It is possible that the government is likely to wait for if the increase in housing supplies in the coming years will cool the prices,” Maybank said.

Total economic expectations

On the total economy front, Bofa analysts said that the budget is expected to be a “pro -growth” budget, given the “low and stable” inflation and unconfirmed global expectations.

the The cash authority in Singapore reduced the basic inflation for 2025 To 1 % -2 % from 1.5-2.5 % after the sharp decrease to 1.9 % in the fourth quarter (from 2.7 % in the third quarter), indicating a return to low and stable price pressures.

“With the pressure of inflation now, we believe that MAS turns its focus towards growth expectations, which it considers to face a rise in negative risks due to the friction of the escalating trade policy,” Numora analysts said in a future note.

NOMURA expects GDP growth 2025 by 2.8 % on an annual basis, which is less than 4 % seen in 2024, but near the upper end of the government’s expectations by 1 % -3 %.

The expected decline attributed to the weakest external demand under Trump’s second state, despite the Singapore Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

“However, we believe that growth will remain flexible and above the capabilities, as the growth of strong local wages and employment provides some pillows against shocks from increased commercial protectionism,” the analysts wrote.

Singapore GDP expansion by 4.4 % In 2024, he marked it The fastest full growth since 2021According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

A balanced budget base

Bofa indicated that Singapore has a “financial flexibility” of the accumulated surpluses from 2021 to 2024, creating space for supplementary spending.

Maybank expects that the 2025 budget will record a deficit of $ 6 billion in Singapore, or about 0.8 % of GDP, “with the government’s decrease in most of its accumulated surplus $ 6.7 billion on the election period.” The number is 6.7 billion Singapore dollars, according to Maybank estimates.

Under the Singapore Constitution, the government must maintain a balanced budget in every government period, and can benefit from previous reserves only with presidential approval. The government is not allowed to borrow to finance its operating expenses.

Since independence, Singapore has taken advantage of its previous reserves only twice: during the 2008 financial crisis Covid-19.

The budget will be the last for the current government before the elections were called by November.

Last month, Singapore announced the training From the electoral border review committee, a major step in the period before the general elections in the city.