You are Right
Ministries except MINDEF to cut budgets by 3
percent
The government must do more with less, says Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong in his Budget presentation on Friday.
He announced a further permanent 3 percent cut in the budgets of
ministries with the exception of MINDEF.
Mr Lee, who is also Finance Minister, made clear that the
government listens to feedback and is keeping costs down.
He also announced that it has decided not to move to current year
assessment - after listening to Singaporeans.
Economy Drive initiatives saved some S$500 million last year.
The Cut Waste Panel received some 3,000 suggestions and agreed with
85 percent of them.
One suggestion that CPF statements should be sent less frequently
saved some S$500,000.
Mr Lee said: "Singapore has one of the most efficient public
sectors in the world but hearing all the complaints, you wouldn't
believe it. But we cannot stay still. We need to continually raise
productivity, do more with less, and restructure as needs and
priorities change. That means we have to do more!"
The Prime Minister said that the public sector should minimise the
resources that it requires.
It must continually seek efficiency gains, minimise waste, find
more cost-effective ways to deliver services and benchmark itself
against the best private sector practices.
Mr Lee added: "These imperatives are familiar enough to the private
sector, especially in this age of intense competition. But they
apply equally to the public sector, even though its bottom line is
often more intangible."
Over S$9 million was saved by outsourcing over 2 percent of
non-core functions so far.
The goal is to raise outsourcing to 20 percent.
The government says employees affected by this exercise will be
offered redeployment if possible or released on equitable
terms.
More and larger public private partnerships like the Ulu Pandan
NEWater plant are also on the horizon.
The public sector is studying the use of private partnerships for
large projects like the new Sports Hub and student housing at the
National University of Singapore.
To keep the government's budget flexible, the Finance Ministry will
take out a "productivity dividend" from the budgets of the
Ministries.
These will be pooled into a Reinvestment Fund and ministries can
bid from this fund for innovative projects.
Mr Lee emphasised that consultation and feedback are important for
formulating and putting public policies in place like recent moves
to change the way income is taxed.
While the government wanted to move to current year assessment, it
has decided not to do so after public feedback.
But Mr Lee said there are limits to this.
He noted: "A commitment to consult and seek feedback does not mean
government by referendum. Government decisions cannot always be
guided by popular preference or straw polls, nor should they be
swayed by organised interest groups. The Government must always
decide based on an objective and well-informed assessment of
whether a particular course of action is in the long term interests
of Singaporeans. This is a responsibility which the government
cannot abdicate."
As for loosening regulations so as to make it easier for
entrepreneurs, the Prime Minister reiterated that the government is
committed to this.
It has so far reviewed over 9,000, gotten rid of over 1,000 and
simplified over 2,000 regulations. - CNA