Deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong posted a snippet of his parliamentary speech, explaining why GST will be raised from next year onwards.
He said that no government likes to raise taxes, and that they had considered all options carefully, but eventually decided to go ahead with the GST move because of a huge funding gap that will only increase with time.
Here is what he said
No Government likes to raise taxes. We had considered all options carefully. But we eventually decided we had to proceed with the GST move because we are facing a huge funding gap which will only increase with time, as our population ages, and healthcare spending goes up.
Some claim that the government still has lots of “surpluses”. That is mistaken and false. What they are really saying is that the government should use more of the past reserves, and leave behind less resources for our children and grandchildren.
Surely that cannot be the responsible thing to do, especially at a time when the uncertainties in the word are becoming ever greater.
Furthermore, the unique way we have designed the GST system in Singapore ensures that the impact of the GST increase is delayed by at least 5 years, and that lower-income households will not be impacted.
All this reflects the ethos of the government – we do not go for politically expedient measures that may end up being unviable or unsustainable.
Instead we focus our efforts on designing effective policies, and on doing what’s right for Singapore and Singaporeans.
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Source: Lawrence Wong on Facebook