Finance Ministry plans to raise borrowing limit by S$70b through govt securities
By May Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 23 November 2009 2303 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The Finance Ministry plans to raise its borrowing limit by S$70 billion to S$320 billion by issuing government securities. The current borrowing limit is S$250 billion.

Moving a motion to raise the government's borrowing limit, Second Finance Minister Lim Hwee Hua said there are about S$234 billion worth of securities outstanding as at October 31.

These will reach about S$320 billion in the next five years.

This is due to the expected increase in CPF Board members' balances as a result of policy changes such as the CPF LIFE scheme and the increase in Minimum Sum, to build up members' retirement savings as well as higher CPF interest payments and the corresponding interest compounding effect.

Mrs Lim said: "Three-quarters of the outstanding government securities are expected to be used to absorb these higher members' balances.

"The remainder would be for the Monetary Authority of Singapore to grow the issuance of Singapore Government Securities so as to continue to enhance the efficiency and liquidity of Singapore's debt capital markets." - CNA/vm