STATE investment vehicles Temasek Holdings and the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) can afford to be more open about the thinking behind major investment decisions.
Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) urged this on Friday in a speech summing up the debate in the House over the past five days on the President's Address.
He said the statement made by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to Parliament on Thursday was more open than Temasek's letter to the media a week earlier on May 22, even though both dealt with the same issue - the divestment of Temasek's stake in Bank of America (BoA).
Temasek's own statement did not put in perspective the overall gain in its portfolio over the years, while the minister's statement did.
Temasek's sale of its BoA stake in March was reported in the press earlier this month.
The estimated losses of between US$2.3 billion (S$3.3 billion) and US$4.6 billion led to a public furore and several MPs called on the Government to review the original charters given to Temasek and the other Singapore investment body, GIC.
Mr Palmer said he was reassured by Mr Tharman's response to MPs' questions on Temasek and GIC.
However, he felt more could have been done by Temasek and GIC to 'explain these issues of public interest clearly so that Singaporeans are made aware of the facts and have their questions answered'.
Read the full report in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.
