PM Lee says to assess impact of Budget before considering further measures 26 January 2009
CNA news: PM Lee says to assess impact of Budget before considering further measures
Said PM Lee: “It’s too early to say yet but we are assessing the situation constantly and very carefully so that if we need to do more, we can do more. But I think we would prefer to make a decisive move and monitor for some time, which is what we have done with this Budget, rather than do a little bit then after a little while do a little bit more, then after while, do a little bit more.
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Going forward, PM Lee said he will keep an eye on how the American and European economies do over the next six to nine months, but cautioned layoffs may still be inevitable.
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Singapore govt may dip into reserves 18 January 2009
CNA news: Singapore govt may dip into reserves
“And we’ve always said, the reserves are for a rainy day.”
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“So if this is not a rainy day, I don’t know what is a rainy day. But nevertheless it has to be justified to the President. So, that’s an issue which Finance Minister and the Prime Minister would have to deliberate quite carefully,” said Mr Goh.
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Singapore to revise 2009 GDP growth forecast 16 January 2009
CNA news: Singapore to revise 2009 growth forecast
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the situation is gloomier now than at the start of the new year when the growth estimates were announced.
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“The government’s job is not do everything which is asked for, but to look to see which are the items which are the most effective and then (see) how to raise the money to fund all the things which I need to do, either from the Budget’s revenue this year or from the reserves which we have accumulated,” he said.
“To come out from this (financial crisis), it’s a lot harder. We can’t say that we make some adjustments in Singapore and then we will be able to go back to business as usual. We’ll need to do things in Singapore, but what happens after that depends on what happens around the world,” he added.
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