FOR three fiscal years, the global pandemic was writ large in Singapore’s Budgets, with the actual drawdowns on past reserves amounting S$40 billion to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic which precipitated the “crisis of a generation”.

Tuesday (Feb 14)’s Budget statement, with hardly any significant pandemic-related fiscal allocation, suggests that Singapore is now in a post-pandemic normal.

“Drawer plans” are in place to deal with any challenges, whether zoonotic diseases and geopolitical uncertainties, even as the Government moves to amend the Constitution to enable the Contingencies Fund balance to be reduced from S$16 billion to S$6 billion.