Wah she got insider info? Maybe she's member of
http://freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ordo.gif
SINGAPORE: There appears to be a growing consensus in the international community that the worst of the crisis is over and there are even hints of recovery in some economies.
But Singapore's Second Finance Minister, Lim Hwee Hua, cautioned that countries need to be mindful of how recovery is taking place.
Speaking in Seoul at the World Economic Forum in East Asia on Thursday, she explained that one aspect to consider is the risks associated with fiscal stimulus.
She explained that when the crisis was still unfolding, there was concern that governments were not putting in enough, and so it was suggested that governments pump in stimulus equivalent to two per cent of GDP.
Now, the IMF and other international bodies have started calling for governments to consider exit strategies.
So Mrs Lim said that even though recovery may still be quite far off, it is not too early to think about exit strategies.
The minister stressed that in Singapore, the government tries to deal with this by setting expectations from the outset.
For example, the clear one-year expiry dates for the Jobs Credit Scheme and Special Risk-Sharing Initiative scheme announced to help companies cut costs to save jobs and also obtain financing to bolster their businesses.
Meanwhile finance ministers also now find themselves having to deal with the fiscal impact of the H1N1 flu pandemic.
Mrs Lim said with the World Health Organisation's recent escalation of H1N1 flu to threat level six, governments have to engage in more discretionary or unbudgeted spending, from vaccines to public communications and health screening.
Fortunately, several countries have the infrastructure in place from the time SARS struck in 2003.
But Mrs Lim said there is still the need to continue building up this infrastructure and the capability to respond if the virus mutates.
- CNA
http://freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ordo.gif
SINGAPORE: There appears to be a growing consensus in the international community that the worst of the crisis is over and there are even hints of recovery in some economies.
But Singapore's Second Finance Minister, Lim Hwee Hua, cautioned that countries need to be mindful of how recovery is taking place.
Speaking in Seoul at the World Economic Forum in East Asia on Thursday, she explained that one aspect to consider is the risks associated with fiscal stimulus.
She explained that when the crisis was still unfolding, there was concern that governments were not putting in enough, and so it was suggested that governments pump in stimulus equivalent to two per cent of GDP.
Now, the IMF and other international bodies have started calling for governments to consider exit strategies.
So Mrs Lim said that even though recovery may still be quite far off, it is not too early to think about exit strategies.
The minister stressed that in Singapore, the government tries to deal with this by setting expectations from the outset.
For example, the clear one-year expiry dates for the Jobs Credit Scheme and Special Risk-Sharing Initiative scheme announced to help companies cut costs to save jobs and also obtain financing to bolster their businesses.
Meanwhile finance ministers also now find themselves having to deal with the fiscal impact of the H1N1 flu pandemic.
Mrs Lim said with the World Health Organisation's recent escalation of H1N1 flu to threat level six, governments have to engage in more discretionary or unbudgeted spending, from vaccines to public communications and health screening.
Fortunately, several countries have the infrastructure in place from the time SARS struck in 2003.
But Mrs Lim said there is still the need to continue building up this infrastructure and the capability to respond if the virus mutates.
- CNA
