Singapore granted fewer PRs and citizenships last year :
Minister Wong
The Singapore Government will tighten its immigration policies
to better manage the pace of growth and overall numbers of
permanent residents and new citizens.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng told Parliament that the
government has undertaken a review of the process of granting
permanent residence (PR) and citizenships.
Last year, the government granted 59,500 PRs and 19,900
citizenships.
That's about 20,000 fewer PRs and citizenships granted in
2008.
Moving forward the number of PRs granted will be reduced, although
there will be no absolute cap to this.
As for the number of new citizens - that will be up to 20,000 a
year.
The number is derived from Singapore's low fertility rate of 1.23 -
among the lowest in the world.
"Immigration is a key source of population augmentation which we
cannot afford to do without. In a nutshell, we need 60,000 babies
just to replace our resident population. But we only have about
37,000 babies per year. This is why we need about 20,000 new
citizens in order to keep our citizen core".
He said the government will ensure that those who sink their roots
here contribute to Singapore economically and integrate well into
society.
The National Integration Council is already spearheading efforts
for that.
--938Live