Originally posted by iveco:
All except defence, i guess.
You are Right
Ministries except MINDEF to cut budgets by 3 percent The government must do more with less, says Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his Budget presentation on Friday.
He announced a further permanent 3 percent cut in the budgets of ministries with the exception of MINDEF.
Mr Lee, who is also Finance Minister, made clear that the government listens to feedback and is keeping costs down.
He also announced that it has decided not to move to current year assessment - after listening to Singaporeans.
Economy Drive initiatives saved some S$500 million last year.
The Cut Waste Panel received some 3,000 suggestions and agreed with 85 percent of them.
One suggestion that CPF statements should be sent less frequently saved some S$500,000.
Mr Lee said: "Singapore has one of the most efficient public sectors in the world but hearing all the complaints, you wouldn't believe it. But we cannot stay still. We need to continually raise productivity, do more with less, and restructure as needs and priorities change. That means we have to do more!"
The Prime Minister said that the public sector should minimise the resources that it requires.
It must continually seek efficiency gains, minimise waste, find more cost-effective ways to deliver services and benchmark itself against the best private sector practices.
Mr Lee added: "These imperatives are familiar enough to the private sector, especially in this age of intense competition. But they apply equally to the public sector, even though its bottom line is often more intangible."
Over S$9 million was saved by outsourcing over 2 percent of non-core functions so far.
The goal is to raise outsourcing to 20 percent.
The government says employees affected by this exercise will be offered redeployment if possible or released on equitable terms.
More and larger public private partnerships like the Ulu Pandan NEWater plant are also on the horizon.
The public sector is studying the use of private partnerships for large projects like the new Sports Hub and student housing at the National University of Singapore.
To keep the government's budget flexible, the Finance Ministry will take out a "productivity dividend" from the budgets of the Ministries.
These will be pooled into a Reinvestment Fund and ministries can bid from this fund for innovative projects.
Mr Lee emphasised that consultation and feedback are important for formulating and putting public policies in place like recent moves to change the way income is taxed.
While the government wanted to move to current year assessment, it has decided not to do so after public feedback.
But Mr Lee said there are limits to this.
He noted: "A commitment to consult and seek feedback does not mean government by referendum. Government decisions cannot always be guided by popular preference or straw polls, nor should they be swayed by organised interest groups. The Government must always decide based on an objective and well-informed assessment of whether a particular course of action is in the long term interests of Singaporeans. This is a responsibility which the government cannot abdicate."
As for loosening regulations so as to make it easier for entrepreneurs, the Prime Minister reiterated that the government is committed to this.
It has so far reviewed over 9,000, gotten rid of over 1,000 and simplified over 2,000 regulations. - CNA