Public Finance and Public Sector

The presentation of the annual Government Budget is based on the financial year (FY) of the Government, which runs from 1 April of the year to 31 March of the following year. 

Under Singapore’s Constitution, a distinction is made between the reserves accumulated by the Government during its current term of office, and Past Reserves, which refer to the reserves not accumulated by the Government during its current term of office. The Government is expected to balance the budget within its term and can only draw on Past Reserves with the approval of the President. This Constitutional framework protects Past Reserves by enforcing fiscal prudence, while allowing the Government to draw on them in times of need. 

The Overall Fiscal Position that is published by the Ministry of Finance and presented to the Parliament is based on the Operating Revenue and Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) that the Government of the day can spend under the Constitution, offset against Total Expenditure and Special Transfers including Top-ups to Statutory and Trust Funds after accounting for the fiscal impact of the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act (SINGA). Not all Government revenues and receipts collected constitute revenue available for spending. Cash receipts that are not considered revenue available for direct Government spendings, such as cash receipts from land sales, accrue to Past Reserves. 

Singapore separately publishes a set of Government finance data that follows the International Monetary Fund’s presentation format for Government finance statistics. This set of data includes all receipts, including items not available for spending by the Government of the day under Singapore’s Constitution. 

For more information, please refer to the corrections and clarifications in Factually. 

For more information, please refer to the corrections and clarifications in Factually.

For more information, please refer to the corrections and clarifications in Factually.

Government Revenue 

The Government’s Overall Revenue comprises the Government’s Operating Revenue and Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC). Operating Revenue consists of Tax Revenue, Contribution Income, Fees and Charges, and Others. The largest contributors within Operating Revenue are Corporate Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, and Goods and Services Tax. NIRC is the sum of: (1) up to 50% of the expected long-term real return on the relevant assets specified in the Constitution; and (2) up to 50% of the net investment income on the remaining assets. 

The main revenue-collecting agencies are the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Singapore Customs. IRAS is responsible for the collection of income tax, property tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST), stamp duty and betting taxes. IRAS is also responsible for the implementation of the Multinational Enterprise Top-up Tax and the Domestic Top-up Tax for in-scope multinational enterprise groups for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025, under Pillar Two of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) 2.0 initiative. The Singapore Customs collects import GST as well as customs and excise duties on liquors, tobacco, petroleum products and motor vehicles. 

Generally, an individual who was in Singapore for a period of 183 days or more in the year preceding the year of assessment would be considered a tax resident of Singapore. Tax residents pay personal income tax at progressive rates on the chargeable income of the preceding year after appropriate deductions and reliefs (e.g. allowable expenses, donations and reliefs). Non-tax resident individuals are not entitled to personal reliefs or rebates and are generally taxed at a flat rate of 15% or at progressive tax rates whichever is higher. 

A company is taxed at a flat rate on its chargeable income earned in the preceding financial year. Tax reliefs in the form of tax exemption schemes and corporate income tax rebates may be available to companies to help reduce their taxes. More related information is available on the IRAS website. 

GST is a consumption tax paid on goods and services consumed domestically in Singapore, including imported goods and services. The current GST rate is 9 per cent. International services and export of goods are zero-rated (i.e., GST is charged at 0 per cent). No GST is levied on exempt supplies, which include the sale and lease of residential properties, the provision of financial services, the importation and local supply of investment precious metals and the supply of digital payment tokens. 

Depreciation 

Depreciation is the systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of a depreciable asset over its useful life. 

Government Debt 

There are presently two key categories of domestic debt instruments. 

The first category of domestic debt instruments is issued under the Government Securities (Debt Market and Investment) Act 1992 for non-spending purposes. Borrowing proceeds raised under this Act are invested and cannot be spent. The debt instruments under this Act are issued for specific purposes and include: 

1) Publicly held domestic debt instruments comprising (a) Singapore Government Securities (Market Development) and Treasury Bills, which are issued to develop Singapore’s debt markets; (b) Cash Management Treasury Bills, which are issued on an ad-hoc basis as a contingency cash management tool to manage the Government’s short-term cashflow mismatches; and (c) Singapore Savings Bonds, which are issued to provide individual investors with a long-term savings option. 

2) Non-publicly held domestic debt instruments comprising (a) Special Singapore Government Securities, which are primarily issued to meet the investment needs of the Central Provident Fund and (b) Reserves Management Government Securities, which are only issued to the MAS to facilitate the transfer of Official Foreign Reserves above what MAS requires to the Government for longer-term investment. 

The second category is issued under the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act 2021 (SINGA) for spending purposes. These comprise Singapore Government Securities (Infrastructure) and Green Singapore Government Securities (Infrastructure), which are publicly held. Borrowing proceeds from Singapore Government Securities (Infrastructure) are used to finance spending on nationally significant infrastructure. Borrowing proceeds from Green Singapore Government Securities (Infrastructure) are used to finance nationally significant infrastructure that qualify as eligible green expenditures under the Singapore Green Bond Framework. 

Operating Revenue 

These are receipts credited to the Consolidated Revenue Account and Development Fund Account, excluding Investment and Interest Income, and Capital Receipts (lumpy and less regular in timing). The main components are Corporate Income Tax, Personal Income Tax and Goods and Services Tax. 

Total Expenditure 

Consists of Operating Expenditure and Development Expenditure. 

Operating Expenditure includes Running Costs and Transfers. Running Costs represent the day-to-day operating expenditure of the Government Ministries and Departments on the maintenance of the operations and other regular activities of the Government. The main components of Running Costs are expenditure on manpower, other operating expenditure, subventions and capital injections to organisations. Transfers are payments made by the Government to members of the public and outside organisations. These include public assistance, subsidies, subventions and Government contributions to local and international organisations. Operating Expenditure is met from the Consolidated Fund. The Consolidated Fund was constituted by Article 145 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. 

Development Expenditure refers to expenses that represent a longer-term investment and/or are incurred on capital assets in respect of or in connection with the economic development or general welfare of Singapore. Examples of spending areas are the acquisition of heavy equipment as well as capital assets, e.g., buildings and roads. Land-related expenditure and net lending are excluded. Development Expenditure is met from the Development Fund. The Development Fund was established by the Development Fund Act 1959. 

The funding sources of the Development Fund are: 

1. money appropriated from time to time from the Consolidated Fund; 
2. proceeds of any loan raised for the purposes of the fund and appropriated to such purposes by the law raising the loan; 
3. loans or grants from time to time made to Singapore for the purposes of or properly allocable to the fund; 
4. revenues of Singapore allocated to the fund; 
5. interest and other income from investments of the fund and profits arising from the realisation of any such investments; and 
6. repayments of any loans made from the fund, or payments of interest on such loans. 

The Development Fund may be used for:

1. construction, improvement, acquisition or replacement of capital assets (for example, buildings, vehicles, aircraft, machinery, rolling-stock, roads) required in respect of or in connection with the economic development or general welfare of Singapore; 
2. acquisition of land and of any right or interest in or over land and in respect of the use of any invention; and 
3. grants and loans to, or investments in any public authority or corporation for any of the purposes mentioned in (i) and (ii) above. 

Government employees in the Civil Service 

Refers to government employees in the Ministries and Organs of State.  Government employees in the Statutory Boards are not included.  Prior to 2016, Senior Executive & above and Junior Executive were represented by officers in the Divisional Status I and Divisional Statuses II to IV respectively. Data exclude Daily-Rated Employees. 

Government employees in the Public service 

Refers to the number of government employees in Ministries, Organs of State and Statutory Boards. Data exclude Daily-Rated Employees.   

Government employees in the Statutory Boards 

Refers to government employees in the Statutory Boards.  Government employees in the Ministries and Organs of State are not included.  Data exclude Daily-Rated Employees. 

Judges

Supreme Court Judges comprise the Chief Justice, Justices of the Court of Appeal, Judges of the Appellate Division, Judges of the High Court and Judicial Commissioners 

Judicial Officers in the Supreme Court 

Judicial Officers in the Supreme Court comprise the Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Senior Assistant Registrars and Assistant Registrars.  For officers who hold concurrent appointments within or across Supreme Court, State Courts and Family Justice Courts, only their primary appointment will be counted. 

Judicial Officers in the Family Justice Courts 

Judicial Officers in the Family Justice Courts comprise the Deputy Presiding Judge, Registrar, Principal District Judge, District Judges, Magistrates and Assistant Registrars.  For officers who hold concurrent appointments within or across Supreme Court, State Courts and Family Justice Courts, only their primary appointment will be counted.  

Judicial Officers in the State Courts 

Judicial Officers at the State Courts comprise the Deputy Presiding Judge and Registrar, Principal District Judges, Senior District Judge, Deputy Principal District Judge, Senior Deputy Registrar, District Judges, Magistrates and  Deputy Registrar.  For officers who hold concurrent appointments within or across Supreme Court, State Courts and Family Justice Courts, only their primary appointment will be counted. 

Registrars 

Refer to Judicial Officers in Supreme Court, State Courts and Family Justice Courts, and Judges in Supreme Courts. 

Members Of Parliament 

Members of Parliament (MPs) consist of elected, non-constituency and nominated Members. The majority of MPs are elected into Parliament at a General Election on a first-past-the-post basis and represent either Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) or Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). MPs act as a bridge between the community and the Government by ensuring that the concerns of their constituents are heard in Parliament. 

Nominated MPs 

Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) are appointed by the President of Singapore for a term of two and a half years on the recommendation of a Special Select Committee of Parliament chaired by the Speaker. NMPs contribute independent and non-partisan views in Parliament. 

Non-Constituency MPs 

Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) are declared as MPs from opposition candidates who had contested in a General Election, were not voted in but had received the highest percentage of votes amongst the unelected candidates from the opposition parties. This ensures there will always be a minimum number of opposition members in Parliament and that views other than the Government’s can be expressed in Parliament. 

Chairs Of Permanent Committees 

Refers to chairs in the Standing Select Committees, namely Public Accounts Committee and Estimates Committee.