Mar 1, 2012 - Straits Times
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted in Parliament on
Thursday that some MPs had called for higher healthcare
expenditure, but said that this would require higher taxes.
As it is, the Government is already increasing its healthcare
expenditure from the current 1.5 per cent of Singapore's gross
domestic product to 3.5 per cent by 2030, he said. If Singapore's
spending on healthcare go up to 6 per cent of the GDP - which is
what Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
countries spend - then it has to raise taxes too, he said.
Mr Tharman said he did not like the term 'first world social
safety net' used by opposition MP Low Thia Khiang to describe the
Budget earlier in the debate.
If Singapore had a first world social safety net, then this may
mean first world taxes, said Mr Tharman.
It's just a crying shame if even with the revenue from two casinos
and stamp duties from continuous property speculation( thus revenue
from stamp duties) we are spending so little for health care for
our elderly people. Where does the rest go to? what';s the break
down? How much of the total pie spent on remuneration of the civil
servants? how much on defence? How much on miscellaneous? Do we
need a 3rd casino to improve health care for the old?
