Parliament debate on Singapore Budget 2024 to begin on Feb 26
A view of Parliament House in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
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SINGAPORE: Parliament will begin debating the Budget 2024 statement on Monday (Feb 26).
It is expected to go on for at least two days before Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong delivers the round-up speech, clarifies queries from Members of Parliament and sums up the Budget.
This will be followed by the Committee of Supply debates, which allow Parliament to examine each ministry’s plans.
In his Budget 2024 statement on Feb 16, Mr Wong announced several measures to help both Singaporeans and businesses.
These included more payouts to alleviate cost-of-living concerns, moves to make preschools more affordable, SkillsFuture top-ups for Singaporeans aged 40 and above and Central Provident Fund (CPF) changes to help older Singaporeans boost their retirement funds.
Apart from the Budget debate, MPs have also filed questions on issues such as the erroneous charging of Goods and Services Tax (GST) by government agencies and the Singaporean businessman who was served a notice that the authorities will designate him as a "politically significant person" under a law to counter foreign interference.
Six government agencies had wrongly levied GST on 18 fees for regulatory services, the Finance Ministry announced last week.
MP Yip Hon Weng (PAP-Yio Chu Kang) asked if there are plans to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.
MP Tan Wu Meng (PAP-Jurong) also asked about the root causes behind the matter, whether the Finance Ministry maintains an overview of such fees and whether there have been prior appeals or legal challenges to the interpretation of the fees.
NCMP Leong Mun Wai (PSP) wanted to know whether the Singaporean businessman who was served with a "notice of intended designation" under the country's foreign interference law was registered as a permanent resident or naturalised as a Singapore citizen.
MP Darryl David (PAP-Ang Mo Kio) also submitted a question on whether there will still be dedicated lanes at Singapore's checkpoints exclusively for Singaporeans and permanent residents, as all foreign visitors will soon be able to clear immigration via automated lanes.
