Annual spending plan must keep sights on long-term issues such as climate change

SINGAPORE’S businesses and households may all be hoping for some near-term relief in Budget 2024; but the government’s annual spending plan should also address longer-term threats such as climate change, competition for foreign investment, and social inequality.

This could involve reassessing policies from earlier Budgets, such as planned carbon tax increases.

Climate change is an existential issue for Singapore. Last week, the Centre for Climate Research Singapore said that the mean daily temperature in the city-state could rise 5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, if greenhouse gas emissions are not sufficiently mitigated.