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Everything You Need to Know About S’pore Budget 2017 in 60 Seconds

2017-02-21 , 2:23 pm

1. Water Prices

As our main water sources, Malaysia and local reservoirs become more unpredictable, our reliance is shifting to costlier sources like desalination and NEWater, leading to water tariffs going up about 30%.

2. Housing Grant

CPF Housing Grant has been increased to $50,000 for first-time applicants of 4-room flats or smaller, and $40,000 for 5-room or bigger.

With the Additional CPF Housing Grant of up to $40,000 and Proximity Housing Grant of up to $20,000, couples can now get up to $110,000 in subsidies.

3. Income Tax Rebate

There will be a personal income tax rebate of 20%, capped at $500.

This costs the government $385 million.

4. Emission Tax and Motorbikes

A carbon tax of between $10 – 20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions will be placed on large direct emitters like petrol stations.

Diesel taxes has been changed from a lump sum to a volume-based duty at $0.10 per litre.

Additional Registration Fees for expensive motorcycles now have an additional 2 tiers, in addition to the 15% for market values up to $5,000. The next $5,000 will be 50%, and 100% for remaining value.

5. Job Training

New “Attach and Train” programme will help workers find jobs in new growth sectors, by providing internships and training in industries that may not be ready to hire yet.

There will continue to be funding for Singaporeans to take on new skills or deepen skillsets through SkillsFuture. Union members can also get subsidies for selected courses through the NTUC-Education and Training Fund.

Wage and training support will be increased as the government commits more funds, up to $26million more.

6. Ministries Budget Cut

Ministries will have a permanent 2% budget cap cut. Some of the funds will go towards cross-agency projects.

This means their budget growth projections will shrink.

This summary is extremely incomplete in many ways, and only serves as a quick update on the most pertinent changes. Note that the pertinence was decided according to what we feel would affect the largest number of Singaporeans, so take it with a grain of salt.

7. Industry transformation

Industry Transformation Maps bring together various stakeholders including the Government and unions to identify key enablers and transform sectors. The plan is to develop ITMs for 23 sectors, covering 80% of the Singapore economy. 6 have been launch and more will be launched within 2017.

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Featured Image: singaporebudget.gov.sg

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