|
THE freeze on fees for Government services will be extended till the end of the year, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Parliament on Wednesday.
Wrapping up the Budget debate, he said: 'We announced a one-year freeze on Government fees starting from July last year when the GST was raised.'
'We have decided to extend the Government fee freeze till the end of 2008 to provide further reassurance to Singaporeans, at a time of rising prices.'
The freeze covers public carpark charges, schools and licence fees, among others. But it excludes transport sector regulatory charges such as ERP and property market development charges.
'They must continue to serve the purpose of regulating demand,' explained Mr Tharman.
The freeze also does not apply to fees charged by non-government entities such as universities, restructured hospitals and town councils, which make their own decisions.
Mr Tharman urged the town councils to consider holding their service and conservancy charges unchanged this year.
'In the case of the universities, fee increases have been announced, but they apply only to first year students in 2008.'
'They'll face a once-off 4 per cent increase in fees this year, with no subsequent increase over their next three years in university.'
The issue of rising price was a hot topic among MPs in this year's Budget debate.
| 
