PM Lee: downturn will be protracted but no reason to panic
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Channel NewsAsia - Friday, November 28
SANTIAGO, Chile: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday the current downturn Singapore is facing is nothing quite like what the country has experienced before.
Speaking at a conference attended by top Latin American companies in Santiago, Mr Lee said that while there is still bitter medicine to be taken, the Singapore government has put a bit more sugar coating on the pill.Citing the 1985 financial crisis, Mr Lee recalled how the government then had to roll out a host of measures to contain the economic spiral.
It was all about cost—cutting then, and there were no goodies announced. These even included cutting the employer’s CPF contribution rate, which is the country’s national pension scheme.
Mr Lee said CPF cuts are not the government’s first preference in the immediate term.
Said Mr Lee: "I think we look at other measures first to reduce costs, we do not want to send too pessimistic a signal."
He said the overriding priority is to secure jobs for Singaporeans, reduce business costs and ensure the competitiveness of Singaporeans.
These will be the focus for the upcoming budget.
Mr Lee noted that low and middle income Singaporeans have also not been left out, citing the Growth Dividends and income tax rebates that have been extended to these groups.
Still, he pointed out there is a need for Singaporeans to manage their expectations because the recovery this time round does not depend on the immediate measures Singapore has taken.
Singapore is already in recession and Mr Lee said the country will experience many more years of slow growth because countries will need some time to collectively figure out how to deal with the financial crisis never before seen since the Great Depression, and work out a new international financial regime.
But if there is a silver lining, it’s in the resilience of Asian economies, which Mr Lee said is dynamic and still offers opportunities.
"We want people to know this is a serious situation which they have to prepare for, take seriously,” he said. “But at the same time we don’t want people to panic, to think that this is the end of the world. It is not.
“During this downturn we must do all that we can to prepare ourselves. Which is why we are continuing to invest whether in education, healthcare and infrastructure. You have to keep on doing these things for the long term.”
Mr Lee heads back to Singapore on Friday.
— CNA/yb
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Why doesn't he want to remove the GST, ERP charges during this recession to ease the load of the nation?
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so touched
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Ya he will do a lot.Just wait after you are dead.
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let see how capable is he, he will do something just befor the election
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
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Why doesn't he want to remove the GST, ERP charges during this recession to ease the load of the nation?
because if their explainations are correct its to help you through the recession.
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I have never seen RICH PEOPLE in recession
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his job is forever iron rice bowl if 66.6% of people still wants him, where got recession 1? haha
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Channel NewsAsia - Friday, November 28
SANTIAGO, Chile: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday the current downturn Singapore is facing is nothing quite like what the country has experienced before.
Speaking at a conference attended by top Latin American companies in Santiago, Mr Lee said that while there is still bitter medicine to be taken, the Singapore government has put a bit more sugar coating on the pill.Citing the 1985 financial crisis, Mr Lee recalled how the government then had to roll out a host of measures to contain the economic spiral.
It was all about cost—cutting then, and there were no goodies announced. These even included cutting the employer’s CPF contribution rate, which is the country’s national pension scheme.
Mr Lee said CPF cuts are not the government’s first preference in the immediate term.
Said Mr Lee: "I think we look at other measures first to reduce costs, we do not want to send too pessimistic a signal."
He said the overriding priority is to secure jobs for Singaporeans, reduce business costs and ensure the competitiveness of Singaporeans.
These will be the focus for the upcoming budget.
Mr Lee noted that low and middle income Singaporeans have also not been left out, citing the Growth Dividends and income tax rebates that have been extended to these groups.
Still, he pointed out there is a need for Singaporeans to manage their expectations because the recovery this time round does not depend on the immediate measures Singapore has taken.
Singapore is already in recession and Mr Lee said the country will experience many more years of slow growth because countries will need some time to collectively figure out how to deal with the financial crisis never before seen since the Great Depression, and work out a new international financial regime.
But if there is a silver lining, it’s in the resilience of Asian economies, which Mr Lee said is dynamic and still offers opportunities.
"We want people to know this is a serious situation which they have to prepare for, take seriously,” he said. “But at the same time we don’t want people to panic, to think that this is the end of the world. It is not.
“During this downturn we must do all that we can to prepare ourselves. Which is why we are continuing to invest whether in education, healthcare and infrastructure. You have to keep on doing these things for the long term.”
Mr Lee heads back to Singapore on Friday.
— CNA/yb
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Why doesn't he want to remove the GST, ERP charges during this recession to ease the load of the nation?
wow, when he said <ensure the competitiveness of Singaporeans> i scare because it could mean pay cut for singaporeans!
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if i earn as much as he does i for sure wont panick.
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Originally posted by seyKai:
I have never seen RICH PEOPLE in recession
Exactly. Just like you have never heard LHL or LKY saying, "Fuck off peasants. We OWN you! You just keep working like slaves while we enjoy the fruits of your labour while getting richer even though we dont even need that much money. And dont think you can oppose us because we OWN the police, the judges and the army."
You'll never hear straight talk from the whitewashing media. After a long time, people get used to hearing sanitised information and actually start to believe it.
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There's our dear Leader. Forever positive and optimistic about the times!
Let us not worry, my dear comrades! However bad the economy may be, we will ensure that dear Leader will always have more than enough to get by.
Cheers to our great Leader!
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Yes, hail the Great leader!
We have to praise the great leader, not criticise the great leader.
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LHL: Thank you ,you dumb fucks! In this time of economic downturn, as the international conspiracy, I mean community tries to come up with a way to fuck you all deeper into debt uh..I mean solve this credit crisis through liquidity injection, it is essential that the peasants, I mean citizens of Singapore tighten their belt while we, your undisputed rulers, I mean elected leaders, adopt measures to ensure the continuation of the make shit eat shit fake economy, I mean...ensuring the competitiveness of the Singapore economy. You have nothing to fear, we will fuck you up good..no I mean take care of you.
LKY: Chip of the old block...
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All he needs to do is wait for the next global economic upcycle and the singapore economy will recover in tandem.
Looks like more pay raise next time for a job well done.
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There are lots of smart people out there who knows the reality in Singapore.
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Originally posted by charlize:
All he needs to do is wait for the next global economic upcycle and the singapore economy will recover in tandem.
Looks like more pay raise next time for a job well done.
Yeah, he can just sit and do nothing and the economy will just recover. He can claim its his credit if it makes him feel good. The hard part to swallow is when he start increasing monies collection with whatever "noble" reason, increasing inflation/cost of living, increasing their own salary in the name of "doing" a good job "running the country" and trasfering costs of bad decisions to the people. ...
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Originally posted by mistyblue:
Yeah, he can just sit and do nothing and the economy will just recover. He can claim its his credit if it makes him feel good. The hard part to swallow is when he start increasing monies collection with whatever "noble" reason, increasing inflation/cost of living, increasing their own salary in the name of "doing" a good job "running the country" and trasfering costs of bad decisions to the people. ...
Being PM is a tough job.
Everyday he has to come up with ideas on how to help the poor.
All that thinking is worth 3 million dollars annually it seems.
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Of course he says no reason to panic. When ur sitting on a salary of 3mil even after a paycut....who needs to panic?
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zenzen wakarimasen???
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
Of course he says no reason to panic. When ur sitting on a salary of 3mil even after a paycut....who needs to panic?
yeah.... if i got that 3 mil yearly i also not panic