Government expenditure Total Expenditure for Singapore
FY2015 Total Expenditure has been revised upwards by $0.2 billion (or 0.3%) to $68.4 billion (or 17.0% of GDP). Operating Expenditure is expected to be $48.7 billion, similar to the budgeted FY2015 estimate. Development Expenditure is expected to be $19.7 billion, higher than the budgeted FY2015 estimate by $0.2 billion (or 0.9%). This is mainly due to higher expenditures for transport infrastructure and economic development. The Social Development sector continues to take up the largest share of Total Expenditure at 46.7%, followed by Security and External Relations (27.0%). The breakdown of government spending by the major sectors is provided in Chart 1.2. 2.3 Total Expenditure FY2016 Total Expenditure is estimated to be $73.4 billion (or 17.9% of GDP). This is an increase of $5.0 billion (or 7.3%) from the revised FY2015 estimate of $68.4 billion. The main increases in expenditure over FY2015 are in Healthcare, National Development, Defence, Education, Home Affairs and Trade and Industry (see Chart 2.1). Healthcare expenditure is expected to increase by $1.8 billion (or 19.0%). This is mainly to cater for higher subventions to Public Healthcare Institutions and premium subsidies for MediShield Life. There is also higher development expenditure for the construction of healthcare infrastructure such as the Sengkang General Hospital, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, National Cancer Centre and Outram Community Hospital. National Development expenditure is expected to increase by $1.1 billion (or 38.7%), mainly due to higher expenditure on public housing and increase in housing grants to support home ownership. Defence expenditure is expected to increase by $0.8 billion (or 6.4%) due to an increase in military expenditure. Education expenditure is expected to increase by $0.7 billion (or 5.8%). This is mainly due to salary adjustment of education officers and allied educators, higher budget for the polytechnics and ITE for SkillsFuture initiatives, and higher budget for Autonomous Universities and UniSIM to cater for higher student enrolment numbers. Home Affairs expenditure is expected to increase by $0.5 billion (or 10.1%), mainly due to investments in frontline policing and public order capabilities, enhanced security measures at the Checkpoints, as well as spending on infrastructure projects such as the new Woodlands Police Divisional HQ and Redevelopment of Selarang Park Complex. Trade and Industry expenditure is expected to increase by $0.5 billion (or 14.0%), mainly due to requirements for tourism projects and higher operating grants to fund the activities of the Statutory Boards. A detailed breakdown of government expenditure by sector is provided in Tables 3.3 to 3.6b in the Statistical Annex. |