Budget 2026: FY2025 surplus revised up to record S$15.1 billion, more than double the estimate
The surplus was driven by higher-than-expected takings for corporate income tax, among other factors
Add BT as a preferred sourceJermaine Fok
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
Follow The Business Times’ live coverage of Singapore’s Budget 2026 here.
[SINGAPORE] Higher-than-expected tax revenue has taken Singapore’s fiscal surplus for FY2025 to a record S$15.1 billion, more than double the earlier estimate of S$6.8 billion.
“This is partly due to the better-than-expected economic performance,” said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also prime minister, in his Budget speech on Thursday (Feb 12). Singapore’s growth in 2025 was stronger than expected at 5 per cent.
The revised FY2025 surplus is higher in dollar terms than the previous record of S$10.9 billion in 2017. But it is smaller as a percentage of gross domestic product, at 1.9 per cent versus 2017’s 2.3 per cent.
Operating revenue came in at S$130.9 billion, revised up 6.6 per cent from the initial S$122.8 billion estimate, and also 13.3 per cent higher than FY2024’s S$115.5 billion figure.
PM Wong noted that corporate income tax collections were a key driver, noting that they also contributed 4 per cent of GDP in FY2024, “significantly higher than in past years”.
For FY2025, corporate income tax takings were S$35.2 billion, S$2.6 billion higher than the initial S$32.7 billion estimate.
PM Wong also highlighted “higher asset-related revenue collections... driven by strong demand for private vehicles and property”.
Vehicle quota premiums exceeded expectations by S$2.1 billion, coming in at S$8.7 billion as Certificate of Entitlement prices stayed high.
SEE ALSO
Stamp duty collections reached S$6.8 billion, S$900 million more than earlier estimates, on the back of higher government land sales and more private property deals.
Meanwhile, the “other taxes” category exceeded expectations by 67.8 per cent, coming in at S$4 billion. This was S$1.6 billion more than the earlier S$2.4 billion estimate, mainly due to higher land betterment charges from large development projects.
Greater spending
The dramatically higher-than-expected revenue more than outweighed a slight upward revision in expenditure.
Total expenditure by ministries came in at S$124.5 billion, S$700 million higher than the original estimate of S$123.8 billion.
The largest difference was for the Ministry of Transport. Expenditure was revised up by S$1.2 billion to S$15.9 billion, due to rail network expansion and higher road maintenance costs.
Also revised upwards was expenditure for the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was S$500 million higher than expected at S$9.7 billion. This reflected higher manpower spending and grants to the Home Team Science and Technology Agency.
In contrast, two ministries saw significantly lower spending than expected.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry spent S$600 million less than expected, at S$6.6 billion. This was mainly due to lower-than-projected requirements for the Enterprise Development Fund.
Similarly, the Ministry of Health spent S$500 million less than projected, at S$20.4 billion. This was due to lower funding needs for public healthcare institutions and adjustments to payment milestones for new healthcare facilities and healthcare IT systems.
Special transfers, excluding top-ups, remained unchanged at S$3.8 billion.
The net investment returns contribution was revised up to S$27.5 billion, from the earlier estimate of S$27.1 billion.
The revised overall fiscal surplus also takes into account S$5 billion in capitalisation under the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act and S$500 million in related interest costs and loan expenses.
For FY2024, both actual operating revenue and total expenditure were lower than earlier revised figures. Operating revenue was S$1.1 billion lower at S$115.5 billion, while total expenditure was S$600 million lower at S$112.3 billion.
For more of BT’s Budget 2026 coverage, go to bt.sg/budget26
To see how balances are derived, go to https://graphics.businesstimes.com.sg/specials/singapore-budget-2026/index.html#/balances
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
