Operating Revenue, Expenditures And Overall Surplus Or Deficit Of Current Government
12 Sep 2022Parliamentary Question by Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) what is the current Government’s FY2022 to-date operating revenue, operating expenditure, development expenditure and the primary surplus/deficit respectively; (b) how do these figures compare with the budgeted figures; and(c) how much is the overall FY2022 fiscal position expected to differ from the estimated deficit of $3 billion as announced in Budget 2022.
Parliamentary Reply by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong:
The monthly figures for government operating revenue, and quarterly figures for operating and development expenditure are published by the Department of Statistics on its website. However, the pace of revenue collections and government spending is uneven across the months of the financial year. Hence, it is generally not meaningful to compare the latest revenue and expenditure figures against the budgeted figures so early in the financial year, or to compute the primary surplus at this point.
It is also premature to project the eventual fiscal outturn for FY2022 after only one quarter. This is especially so as there is significant uncertainty in our macroeconomic environment and COVID-19 trajectory. We typically provide an update on revenue and expenditure, as well as the revised position for the current financial year at Budget.