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Singapore to help its citizens cope with inflation
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 18 - 02 - 2011

Awwal 15, 1432 H/Feb 18, 2011, SPA -- The Singapore government Friday unveiled a
multi-billion-dollar benefits package to help offset the rising costs
of food and commodities, according to dpa.
The package, worth 6.6 billion Singapore dollars (5.2 billion US
dollars), includes tax rebates and cuts for households as well as
long-term investments in social services such as health care.
"Inflation is a key concern for everyone this year," Finance
Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Singapore's parliament in his
budget speech for the upcoming financial year.
Tharman warned further spikes in commodity prices could hold back
economic growth in Asia if governments are forced to tighten domestic
policies to control inflation.
"As a country that imports almost all we consume, we will always
be vulnerable to inflation abroad," said the minister.
The government earlier said it expected inflation to reach 3 to 4
per cent this year, with a peak of up to 6 per cent in the coming
months and a more moderate rate in the latter half of 2011.
Tharman said Singapore would seek to reduce inflationary pressures
through the Singapore dollar exchange rate policy of its central
bank, but the most fundamental approach was to raise incomes.
"We aim to raise incomes by 30 per cent over this decade," he said.
Presenting the last budget before general elections due by
February next year, Tharman said all adult Singaporeans would receive
a growth dividend of up to 800 Singapore dollars, after the
city-state's economy grew a record 14.5 per cent in 2010.
Given the strong recovery of Singapore's economy following the
global recession, the budget for the financial year 2010 that ends
March 31 was expected "to be close to a balanced position" with a
small deficit of 300 million Singapore dollars, or 0.1 per cent of
gross domestic product, he said.


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