Budget 2014 - Opportunities for the Future, Assurance for Our Seniors

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam delivered the Budget Statement for the Financial Year 2014 Budget on 21 February 2014.

2.  Achieving quality growth and an inclusive society go hand in hand. Budget 2014 will reinforce the shifts in our economic and social strategies that we have embarked on in recent years:

(i) We are going for quality growth: growth based on innovation and deeper capabilities, that will enable us to sustain rising incomes for Singaporeans.

(ii) We are building a fair and equitable society, with stronger support for those who start off with less, and where everyone has a real chance to pursue their aspirations and earn their own success.

Transforming our Economy

3.  We are transforming our economy to create higher value industries and quality jobs for Singaporeans in the next decade and beyond. We must adapt to the permanent reality of a tight labour market. Raising productivity is at the centre of our agenda. We will provide sharper incentives to support significant efforts in business transformation and upgrading.

4.  Our support for companies will be along five thrusts:

(i) Extend and deepen support for businesses to invest in productivity, innovation and skills so that they can sustain and step up their restructuring efforts.

(ii) Give a stronger and more specific push to the piloting and scaling up of ICT solutions that can help to transform whole sectors.

(iii) Catalyse investments in growth enterprises, to facilitate their growth and expansion.

(iv) Support companies in their efforts to internationalise and grow their brand in the global market.

(v) Put in place a series of measures to help the construction sector meet the challenge of raising construction productivity.

A Fair and Equitable Society

5.  We are driving important initiatives to help our lower-income families aspire for themselves, and enable every Singaporean to contribute to a better society. It is a determined, multi-year effort to keep up social mobility and do all we can to avoid becoming a society of permanent tiers. Equally, we are enabling a better system of care and financial security for the elderly and Singaporeans with disabilities.

6.  Some key initiatives announced in Budget 2014 include:

(i) Give special recognition to our Pioneer Generation through a Pioneer Generation Package that assures them of affordable healthcare.

(ii) Continue to enhance healthcare affordability for both the lower- and middle-income groups.

(iii) Boost education subsidies, starting with the early childhood years, and strengthen support for the middle-income group, especially in tertiary education.

(iv) Enhance healthcare and retirement savings of workers, through adjustments in CPF contributions.

(v) Buttress our schemes to help the disabled.

7.  Budget 2014 also provides additional support, especially for lower-income groups and retirees, to help them with their costs of living.

8.  More details of the measures introduced in Budget 2014 can be found in the Budget 2014 website (www.singaporebudget.gov.sg).