Singapore Pops a Potent Anti-Viral. Is It Enough?
With one eye on the coronavirus, the government lays the groundwork for the next election.
After the health scare comes an election.
Photographer: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty
Five years ago, when Singapore last aimed for a budget shortfall anywhere near as large as the one announced Tuesday, it was mainly because the city-state wanted to press on with the airport’s fifth terminal — one that will only be ready in the 2030s. The goal of the stimulus this time around is not to improve a distant future, but to ward off a present danger.
The overall deficit will be S$10.9 billion ($7.8 billion), Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in his budget speech, a sharp jump from S$1.7 billion last year. At 2.1% of gross domestic product, it’s a bold number for a fiscally prudent government that even during the 2009 global financial crisis was barely S$800 million in the red. (It had planned for an S$8.7 billion shortfall, but the economy improved.)