A ‘People’s Budget’ that will almost certainly be expansionary

THERE were two developments last week that will shape Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong’s Budget Statement to be delivered on Tuesday (Feb 14).

First, with Singapore adjusting the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition level from yellow to green from Monday (Feb 13), we can expect pandemic-related fiscal expenditures to be reduced significantly in the upcoming financial year 2023-2024.

With Singapore treating Covid-19 as an endemic disease, we can expect a significant reduction in the budgetary outlay to aid segments of the economy impacted by the pandemic.