Part 1
President S R Nathan laid out the priorities and focus of the Government in his speech to Parliament last night. The following is the full text of his speech.
SINCE Parliament last opened in November 2006, our economy has gone through a roller-coaster ride.
2006 and 2007 were very good years, with growth averaging 8 per cent. But then the global financial crisis hit us and last year growth fell to 1 per cent.
This year will be worse. Our GDP is expected to decline by 6 to 9 per cent, with rising unemployment.
Fortunately, we did not slacken when conditions were favourable earlier.
We restructured the economy, upgraded our workforce and attracted many new investments and high-value jobs.
We also strengthened our social safety nets. We introduced the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme to help low-income workers, and launched CPF Life to provide Singaporeans a lifelong income into old age.
We invested in our health system and enhanced our 3Ms (Medisave, MediShield and Medifund) financing framework to assure every Singaporean access to high- quality health care.
More importantly, we steered clear of excesses during the boom years. We strengthened our revenue base, budgeted within our means and accumulated reserves for a rainy day. We supervised our banks to be prudent, and avoided a credit bubble. When the financial crisis struck, we were in a strong position.
We could take decisive measures - the Spur scheme and the Resilience Package - to help companies and workers to save jobs. We did not have to borrow. Having steadily built up reserves, we could draw on them, with my approval, to fund the Jobs Credit scheme and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative.
In this crisis, our immediate priority is to see Singapore through.
Our best strategy is still to help companies to stay viable and continue employing workers. We must keep up the effort to up-skill and re-skill our workers to become more employable and productive in a changing economy.
The National Trades Union Congress is at the forefront of these efforts, working shoulder to shoulder with Government and employers. Meanwhile, our economic agencies are continuing to draw in new investments and jobs.
Our response to the crisis has strengthened Singapore's reputation, is yielding results and will put us in a strong position for the future.
President S R Nathan laid out the priorities and focus of the Government in his speech to Parliament last night. The following is the full text of his speech.
SINCE Parliament last opened in November 2006, our economy has gone through a roller-coaster ride.
2006 and 2007 were very good years, with growth averaging 8 per cent. But then the global financial crisis hit us and last year growth fell to 1 per cent.
This year will be worse. Our GDP is expected to decline by 6 to 9 per cent, with rising unemployment.
Fortunately, we did not slacken when conditions were favourable earlier.
We restructured the economy, upgraded our workforce and attracted many new investments and high-value jobs.
We also strengthened our social safety nets. We introduced the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme to help low-income workers, and launched CPF Life to provide Singaporeans a lifelong income into old age.
We invested in our health system and enhanced our 3Ms (Medisave, MediShield and Medifund) financing framework to assure every Singaporean access to high- quality health care.
More importantly, we steered clear of excesses during the boom years. We strengthened our revenue base, budgeted within our means and accumulated reserves for a rainy day. We supervised our banks to be prudent, and avoided a credit bubble. When the financial crisis struck, we were in a strong position.
We could take decisive measures - the Spur scheme and the Resilience Package - to help companies and workers to save jobs. We did not have to borrow. Having steadily built up reserves, we could draw on them, with my approval, to fund the Jobs Credit scheme and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative.
In this crisis, our immediate priority is to see Singapore through.
Our best strategy is still to help companies to stay viable and continue employing workers. We must keep up the effort to up-skill and re-skill our workers to become more employable and productive in a changing economy.
The National Trades Union Congress is at the forefront of these efforts, working shoulder to shoulder with Government and employers. Meanwhile, our economic agencies are continuing to draw in new investments and jobs.
Our response to the crisis has strengthened Singapore's reputation, is yielding results and will put us in a strong position for the future.