With geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions and global interest rate volatility likely to persist this year, businesses, workers and families in Singapore hope that Budget 2024 will bring more support in helping them manage challenges such as inflation, harder access to funds and job uncertainties, on top of other difficulties.
From tax cuts to green energy transition support to skills development initiatives, businesses – big and small – are hoping for a Singapore Budget that not only addresses their cost and manpower concerns but also lays the groundwork for long-term competitiveness. Workers, particularly those who are not permanently employed and are more susceptible to wage volatility, such as platform workers and young seniors, are counting on measures that will give them greater job security amid a recent spate of retrenchments. Families, too, are calling for help to cushion the blow of higher living costs. Larger households with sole breadwinners, for example, say they are under increasing pressur