Tan Cheng Bock's Progress Singapore Party (PSP) responded on Wednesday (Feb. 19) to the 2020 Budget Statement delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in Parliament on Tuesday.

In statement on its website titled "PSP Poses Tough Questions for Budget 2020", it reiterated its previous stance of Singapore not needing to up the GST rate in the coming five years, pointing out that the high quantum budgeted in support packages is representative of this.

Money spent for support packages shows GST increase not actually necessary

The party argued that the disbursement of S$6.4 billion in support packages without needing to draw down on reserves showed that the increase in the Goods and Services tax (GST) "was actually not necessary".

Heng announced these financial injections to cushion the economic impact of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak on the country, stabilise the economy, and help Singaporeans with the cost of living.

"Before the current economic difficulties caused by Covid-19, (the) government announced that it would be necessary to raise the GST from 7 per cent to 9 per cent. However, it is now able to postpone the increase in GST despite the economic difficulties..."

As such, while PSP acknowledged that the government had listened to "reasonable voices" by putting off the GST increase for a year, the party reiterated its stance that no fees (including the GST) should be increased for the next five years.

"Given that the Government cannot give a definite timeline as to when the GST increases will take place (only that it will still be needed by 2025), PSP questions the rationale for the S$6 billion Assurance Package which will be set aside in the GST Voucher Fund in this year’s Budget."

"Budget is not a goodie bag"

The PSP also opined that the "Budget is not a goodie bag".

Here, the party explained that the expansionary measures of the Budget had been handed out in different forms of "goodies" which made it difficult for people to comprehend the amount that they were getting, thereby "depriving the economy of an immediate confidence boost".

Moreover, the party was of the view that a larger amount than the current S$1.6 billion Care and Support Package should be allocated to Singaporean households. PSP's Assistant Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai said:

"We propose another S$1 - 2 billion to be allocated to households to cope with COVID-19 crises and economic slowdown."

On foreign workers in the job market & the fact that PMETs were not mentioned

On the matter of foreign workers in Singapore's job market, the PSP said the Covid-19 outbreak has highlighted Singapore's over-reliance on foreigners as a "key risk" to the economy.

This, they note, is a result of Singapore's low Total Fertility Rate, which was at 1.14 in 2018.

As such, the party argues, more thought needs to be put into increasing Singapore's workforce by increasing the birth rate.

It further noted that while the move to cut the foreign worker quota for S Pass holders in the construction, marine shipyard and process sectors was welcome, it was of the opinion that more needed to be done on the impact of foreign workers in the job market and society.

In defining the term foreign workers, the party said that this also included permanent residents and E pass holders, all of whom were competing directly with Singaporean Professional, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) "for good jobs".

The PSP concluded that in order to address the PMET job issue, "the number of E-Pass holders and the PRs will have a bigger bearing".

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Top image collage from PSP Facebook and MOF