CNA reported that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong indicated that the hike in the GST will likely come in a one-off adjustment. The government is also seriously looking at increasing the employer’s contribution to the Central Provident Fund.
How will these measures affect SMEs and especially retailers? Here are some quotes from PM Lee.
On the GST hike:
“Is it better to take your medicine sooner or stretch it out? Take medicine once or two times? I prefer to make my medicine early, why? This is something we need to do, once we have done it, we can move on; we have the resources to have the revenue from the GST that we use, for all the things we want, further investments, etc. If I stretch it out, my revenues come in slower, that means I cannot do all the things I need to now.”
On the CPF increment:
“When I put the CPF at 33 percent, that buffer is a lot less – it’s going to be a much higher hurdle to persuade me that it is necessary to cut the CPF now. If there is a world recession – if China crashes, India crashes, the Americans crashes – I would have no choice but otherwise my buffer is lower. I ought to treat the CPF more as a structural piece of people’s salaries – with that mind set that myself and MOM is looking at adjusting the CPF now. “
Source: Channel News Asia Website
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