Singa preserves principle of chronological fairness

IN SOME other countries, the idea of borrowing to fund public expenditure might not raise many eyebrows. In ever-cautious Singapore, however, the government is taking pains to stress the prudence and long-term logic of its decision to issue bonds for the funding of "nationally significant infrastructure".

This approach, first announced in the Budget speech, has been formally set out in the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act (Singa), the Bill for which was introduced in Parliament on Monday.

For a government which has long warned against taking on debt, this might seem at first glance to be uncharacteristic. But a look at the specifics reveals Singa to be in line with the government's prevailing logic.