<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffee Shop Talk - What does President Nathan do exactly? </TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">GeorgeLlM <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">12:27 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 9) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>12181.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>My attention was drawn to this article, specifically, at the end of this article in Channelnewsasia.com.
SINGAPORE: Last month, the Singapore government announced that it would guarantee all bank deposits, backed by some S$150 billion from its reserves.
It marks the first time the elected president is exercising his custodial powers to approve a potential draw on reserves.
Speaking to the media for the first time on the issue, President S R Nathan said he gave the go-ahead as a contingency plan, but the need to draw on the reserves has not come about yet.
He said: “If it does come, I’ve got a Council of Presidential Advisors, all of whom are knowledgeable, who know the economy (and) finance… who will have to see through and see justification for the draw. And that’s the procedure we will follow.”
- CNA/yt
If there is a Council of Presidential Advisors who are knowledgeable and know the economy and finance would decide whether to use the reserves or not, then just exactly what do we pay President Nathan for? Judging from his words, I think he has just said indirectly he does not know the economy or finance, which isn’t surprising given his bio data here(he was on the Board of Directors of SPH too).
Now this begs the second question. Why is a person who does not have finance background safeguarding the national reserves? Shouldn’t we put someone who has direct knowledge of finance to be in charge of our national reserves? Its akin to hiring someone who does not know finance to be the Chief Finance Officer. =)
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SINGAPORE: Last month, the Singapore government announced that it would guarantee all bank deposits, backed by some S$150 billion from its reserves.
It marks the first time the elected president is exercising his custodial powers to approve a potential draw on reserves.
Speaking to the media for the first time on the issue, President S R Nathan said he gave the go-ahead as a contingency plan, but the need to draw on the reserves has not come about yet.
He said: “If it does come, I’ve got a Council of Presidential Advisors, all of whom are knowledgeable, who know the economy (and) finance… who will have to see through and see justification for the draw. And that’s the procedure we will follow.”
- CNA/yt
If there is a Council of Presidential Advisors who are knowledgeable and know the economy and finance would decide whether to use the reserves or not, then just exactly what do we pay President Nathan for? Judging from his words, I think he has just said indirectly he does not know the economy or finance, which isn’t surprising given his bio data here(he was on the Board of Directors of SPH too).
Now this begs the second question. Why is a person who does not have finance background safeguarding the national reserves? Shouldn’t we put someone who has direct knowledge of finance to be in charge of our national reserves? Its akin to hiring someone who does not know finance to be the Chief Finance Officer. =)
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