Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing yesterday highlighted the benefits of having strong national reserves, amid some calls for the Government to spend a higher share of returns from past reserves instead of raising taxes.

Speaking at a Chinese New Year dinner for Tanjong Pagar GRC last night, he said the current approach of not spending more than half the returns from investing the reserves will signal to the currency markets that the Singapore dollar is strong.

"If the world thinks we are running an irresponsible or unsustainable fiscal policy, you can well imagine what they will do to the Singdollar," he said.

Thanks to the strong currency, Singaporeans today also enjoy cheaper overseas goods and holidays, he added.

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