The economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak has underscored the importance for Singapore to ensure its long-term fiscal sustainability, Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said in Parliament yesterday.
He told the debate on the Finance Ministry's budget: "Our prudent fiscal strategy has provided us with the resources to respond promptly and decisively to crises, and also to continue investing for the future and the long term."
The Budget on Feb 18 set aside $6.4 billion to implement measures to help Singapore combat the fallout from the virus outbreak.
MPs such as Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) and Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast GRC) asked about the Government's spending and its accountability during the Budget debate.
Mr Wong, who is also National Development Minister, said that Singapore had built its resources over several decades thanks to judicious fiscal policies put in place by Singapore's pioneers.
He noted that the country is a small one with no natural resources and exposed to global forces beyond its control, making it especially important for Singapore to continue with its sound fiscal approach to maintain its strong financial position.
Singapore's investment in economic transformation is starting to bear fruit, he said in response to Ms Foo, who asked about the measures Singapore used to track the success of business investments.
Mr Wong said that overall productivity growth, as measured by real value-added per actual hour worked, rose to 2.6 per cent per year in the past three years, up from 2.2 per cent in the preceding three-year period.
The Government will invite industry experts to form an infocomm technology (ICT) advisory panel to evaluate major government projects and ensure their cost-effectiveness, Mr Wong added.
This initiative builds on the success of an earlier project that called on technical experts from academia and the private and public sectors to review large infrastructure projects before they get the go-ahead.
"Over the past five years, these processes have led to design improvements and generated savings of about $3.5 billion for infrastructure projects," Mr Wong added.
So far, the review processes for ICT projects have managed to save $900 million - or 6 per cent - over the past five years, and he hopes that the upcoming panel will further ensure cost-effectiveness.
But the best way to ensure prudence and effective spending is to instil a value-for-money mindset in every public officer, Mr Wong acknowledged, in a nod to Ms Foo's and Mr Liang's suggestions.
"This is a continual work-in-progress, but we have seen improvements over the years," he said.
One way is to set outcome-based measures as the Ministry of Transport (MOT) has done by using the percentage of commuters' journeys completed within 45 minutes as a key performance indicator, said Mr Wong. The MOT also conducts value-for-money workshops for officers to share ideas and best practices.
