Singapore's Fiscal Strategies for Growth

A Journey of Self-Reliance

Singapore's fiscal strategies have helped sustain the country's growth as a small and open economy. This book is a pioneering effort in terms of providing a non-technical, holistic view of Singapore's strategies. The author, formerly Director of Fiscal Policy in Singapore's Ministry of Finance and the Principal Private Secretary to the President of Singapore, provides an insider's bird's eye view of how Singapore's fiscal strategies support monetary and economic policies, and address the needs of Singaporeans.

The book is structured to explain how the various aspects of Singapore's fiscal policies inter-relate and work together as a functioning system, enabling the small city-state to prosper and progress since its independence in 1965. Besides providing a documentation of the development of Singapore's fiscal strategies over the years, the current and impending national challenges to be addressed by fiscal strategies are also discussed. The author also addresses the importance of culture to a nation's success, and highlights the impact of fiscal policy in this regard.

Contents:

• Introduction:

  • Much More than a Revenue and Expenditure Statement
  • Historical Developments
  • Building a Sustainable Budget from the Beginning
  • Evolution of Growth Strategies over the Years

• Stability for Long-Term Growth:

  • Steering a Small Ship in Rough Seas
  • Promoting Confidence through Budgetary Prudence
  • Protection of Accumulated Surpluses
  • Conservatism in Fiscal Planning
  • Funding of Future Liabilities
  • Capping Expenditures, Creating Value

• Marshalling Economic Resources for Productive Growth:

  • A Pro-Enterprise and Pro-Work Fiscal Environment
  • Optimise Usage of Limited Land Resources
  • Efficient Infrastructure that Support Growth
  • Regulating the Inflow of Foreign Workers
  • Putting the Population to Productive Employment

• Addressing People's Needs:

  • Jobs and Wage Growth
  • Ensuring Visible Broad-Based Benefits
  • Sharing of Surpluses

• Challenges and Issues for the Future:

  • Aging Population
  • Headwinds in an Increasingly Turbulent World
  • Double Edged Sword of Technology
  • Self-Reliance

Readership: Students and academics interested in public policy and Singapore's development model, local and foreign agencies interested in Singapore's fiscal policies, analysts and observers interested in Singapore's future.
Key Features:

• The unique treatment of how fiscal policy interacts with monetary, economic and social policies distinguishes the book from other publications on the topic
• The author is well placed to be an authority on the topic given his experience as a practitioner in senior positions
• The writer also expresses his views on the future challenges and issues that could shape the development of Singapore's fiscal strategies into the future, which would guide analysts and observers interested in Singapore's future