Hi,
pls find my blog article. on the recent economic announcements...
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Nothing has changed - still growth at all cost
Singaporeans have been told to expect the number of foreign workers to increase by more than 100,000 this year by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. This is to meet the demands of businesses in a booming economy, he claimed.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said today that GDP grew an annualised 26% from the previous three months in the second quarter, compared with a revised 46% gain in the first quarter. MTI has revised its 2010 GDP growth forecast to 13-15% from 7-9%.
The astounding high growth in the first half of this year means that Singapore overtakes China as the world's fastest-growing economy. According to economists’ estimates, the Singapore economy has exceeded its potential output by more than 5%, implying an overheated economy.
This continued liberal foreign worker policy contradicts the earlier commitment by the PAP government to cap foreign workers at one-third of the total population, or at 50% of the number of Singapore citizens and permanent residents.
It is plain obvious that the most appropriate time to push ahead with restructuring the economy is during boom times, and not when the economy is slowing down. PM Lee's words show that the PAP government is still addicted to short-term low quality GDP growth. It still lacks the determination to see through the much needed structural reforms to increase productivity and put the economy on a path of sustainable growth in the years ahead.
While the increased intake of foreign workers may relief labour constraints, the inevitable problem facing Singapore is infrastructural and capacity constraints. It is highly questionable whether it is worthwhile to squeeze out that extra percentage of unsustainable GDP growth at the expense of increased inflation and externalities arising from overpopulation, and without the average Singaporeans benefiting from it.
Singaporeans are unlikely to gain from this booming economy as the continued influx of foreign workers will keep wages down. Instead Singaporeans suffer in terms of overcrowding and higher inflation arising from pressures on rentals and housing costs. The question Singaporeans need to ask is whether they have really benefited from this push for high GDP growth? If not, for whom is this high growth for?
Incidentally, the direct beneficiaries of the high GDP growth include ministers, MPs and senior civil servants, who receive a GDP bonus pegged to GDP growth. Based on the latest details provided in April 2007 by then Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, ministers, MPs and senior civil servants stand to receive between 0 to 8 months of GDP bonus for GDP growth of 2 to 10%.
It would seem that this PAP government is all out gunning for higher growth (never mind the issues of overcrowding and an overheated economy) to make up for the lower bonuses in the past two years.
pls find my blog article. on the recent economic announcements...
===
Nothing has changed - still growth at all cost
Singaporeans have been told to expect the number of foreign workers to increase by more than 100,000 this year by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. This is to meet the demands of businesses in a booming economy, he claimed.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said today that GDP grew an annualised 26% from the previous three months in the second quarter, compared with a revised 46% gain in the first quarter. MTI has revised its 2010 GDP growth forecast to 13-15% from 7-9%.
The astounding high growth in the first half of this year means that Singapore overtakes China as the world's fastest-growing economy. According to economists’ estimates, the Singapore economy has exceeded its potential output by more than 5%, implying an overheated economy.
This continued liberal foreign worker policy contradicts the earlier commitment by the PAP government to cap foreign workers at one-third of the total population, or at 50% of the number of Singapore citizens and permanent residents.
It is plain obvious that the most appropriate time to push ahead with restructuring the economy is during boom times, and not when the economy is slowing down. PM Lee's words show that the PAP government is still addicted to short-term low quality GDP growth. It still lacks the determination to see through the much needed structural reforms to increase productivity and put the economy on a path of sustainable growth in the years ahead.
While the increased intake of foreign workers may relief labour constraints, the inevitable problem facing Singapore is infrastructural and capacity constraints. It is highly questionable whether it is worthwhile to squeeze out that extra percentage of unsustainable GDP growth at the expense of increased inflation and externalities arising from overpopulation, and without the average Singaporeans benefiting from it.
Singaporeans are unlikely to gain from this booming economy as the continued influx of foreign workers will keep wages down. Instead Singaporeans suffer in terms of overcrowding and higher inflation arising from pressures on rentals and housing costs. The question Singaporeans need to ask is whether they have really benefited from this push for high GDP growth? If not, for whom is this high growth for?
Incidentally, the direct beneficiaries of the high GDP growth include ministers, MPs and senior civil servants, who receive a GDP bonus pegged to GDP growth. Based on the latest details provided in April 2007 by then Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, ministers, MPs and senior civil servants stand to receive between 0 to 8 months of GDP bonus for GDP growth of 2 to 10%.
It would seem that this PAP government is all out gunning for higher growth (never mind the issues of overcrowding and an overheated economy) to make up for the lower bonuses in the past two years.
