WP chief Pritam Singh calls for help with business rents, questions GST hike at start of Budget debate
Poor ‘fiscal marksmanship’ could fuel cynicism when future tax hikes are needed, he says
OPENING the debate on Budget 2025 on Wednesday (Feb 26), Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh called on the government to help local businesses with rents, while also flagging cost-of-living concerns and the issue of integrating foreigners.
The economic situation has been tough for businesses, said the Workers’ Party (WP) chief and Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC. In the food and beverage industry, for instance, local companies face competition from cash-rich foreign players that can pay higher rents and salaries.
And while the new Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone has been received positively, it has also raised concerns about the “hollowing out of businesses in Singapore, particularly those that serve the Singaporean middle class”.
As basic goods grow pricier, many Singaporeans regularly cross the border into Johor for “a good 30 per cent or more in savings”, said Singh, adding that services such as dental treatments are also cheaper there.
“With the JB-Singapore Rapid Transit System starting operations in 2026, many businesses will have to seriously review how far they can expect Singaporeans or other local customers to continue patronising them.”
To retain “high-quality, holistic and affordable options within our borders”, he asked whether the government is prepared to support local businesses such as bookstores and cinemas, whether through grants or requiring building owners to reserve spaces for them.
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Land costs and rentals should be inspected more closely, to consider near-term business challenges, said Singh.
Similarly, People’s Action Party MP Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten SMC) asked the government to adjust rents for industrial and commercial properties owned by JTC and the Housing and Development Board, as well as to reduce rents for hawker stalls.
Separately, he urged Singapore’s monetary authority to review whether borrowing costs for businesses can be reduced.
Noting local banks’ increased profits, he observed: “Excessive profits for banks may mean that some organisation down the chain may be paying a higher price for these financial products.”
Specific to Budget 2025, Singh suggested expanding the use of SG60 vouchers to allow half the amount to be used not just in participating supermarkets, but all small businesses and shops in malls.
Fiscal marksmanship
Beyond Budget 2025, Singh reiterated his party’s criticism of the goods and services tax (GST) hikes in 2023 and 2024. By raising GST even as Singapore faced imported inflation, the government was adding fuel to the fire, he said.
Though wage increases outpaced inflation in 2024, the lived reality is different, with continued concerns over jobs, prices and housing, he said. While vouchers can cushion the impact, such offsets cannot last forever, he added.
It is also unclear if the hikes were necessary, given the government’s “exceedingly healthy fiscal position”, he said.
Singh questioned the government’s ability to make fiscal forecasts, noting how Budget predictions were often later revised to better fiscal states.
The government “should not underestimate the correlation between this poor marksmanship and potential public cynicism in future, when taxes must be increased for legitimate reasons”, said Singh.
Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa agreed, arguing that the S$6.4 billion surplus for financial year 2024 and expected S$6.8 billion surplus for FY2025 cast further doubt on the need to raise the GST rate.
She added that ad hoc vouchers cannot provide long-term support, as they depend on revenue surpluses and the government’s discretion. It is unhealthy for Singaporeans to become reliant on such “gifts” to manage rising costs, she added.
But West Coast GRC’s Foo Mee Har noted that such reflections on GST should consider the context of the heightened risk of geo-economic fragmentation. It is thus “prudent to maintain some fiscal dry powder to respond swiftly to unexpected economic shocks”, she said, and added that such fiscal strength would provide agility so opportunities can be seized as they arise.
MP for Bukit Panjang Liang Eng Hwa said that Singapore has been able to maintain long-term fiscal sustainability through two key mantras: prudent financial management and generating sustainable streams of revenue through economic growth.
This ensures the government’s fiscal capacity to carry out key priorities, many of which are multi-year commitments, while still saving for “rainy days”.
Many governments would find this “almost impossible to achieve”, Liang added. For example, Hong Kong has run “persistent large deficits” in the last three years, and is considering raising taxes or significantly cutting expenditures in case its international ratings are downgraded.
He warned that this could happen to Singapore too, especially given big-ticket spending in strategic areas.
Urging the government to manage the country’s finances responsibly, he said: “Our strong financial position is the best defence and insurance to protect Singaporeans from effects of external shocks, some of which could be devastating or prolonged.”
Greater scrutiny
Singh repeated the WP’s call for an independent parliamentary budget office, which the government had previously rejected on the grounds that it would benefit only the opposition.
“Perhaps in light of unpredictable projections, such an institution would also benefit the government,” he said.
Given that public expenditure has nearly doubled over the decade in nominal terms, there is a need for dedicated institutions to track and account for public spending, he said.
“While expenditures can be tracked, tracking returns is a different matter altogether,” he added. He called for government reports on the outcomes of initiatives, including impact assessments on jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans.
“Only then can better alternatives be promulgated and advanced, not just by the opposition, but by ordinary Singaporeans who care about their country and the direction in which it is headed.”
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