Casino Entry Levis Collected in 2011 And The First 6 Months of 2012
10 Jul 2012Date: 10 July 2012
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance:
(a) what is the amount of casino entry levies collected in 2011 and the first 6 months of 2012; and (b) how much of the casino entry levies collected are channelled specifically to fund measures to contain gambling ills.
Reply by DPM and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam:
1. In 2011, the casino entry levies collected was about $195 million. The collection stands at $93 million for the first six months of 2012.
2. The casino entry levies are collected by the Singapore Totalisator Board (“Tote Board”) and used for social and charitable purposes in Singapore. The Tote Board does not specifically ring-fence the casino entry levies to fund measures to contain gambling ills.
3. Measures to contain gambling ills are funded separately. Since 2009, the Government has more than doubled its expenditure on containing gambling ills, from $3.8 million in FY09 to $9 million in FY11. Some key initiatives include the establishment of the National Council of Problem Gambling (NCPG), which administers casino exclusion, provides advice to the Government on how to address problem gambling , and implements public education programmes to address problem gambling. The Government also provides grants to Voluntary Welfare Organisations, such as Family Service Centres, to defray the cost of counseling services that the VWOs provide to problem gamblers.