President approves Budget for FY2014

SINGAPORE - President Tony Tan Keng Yam has approved the Government's Budget for the financial year beginning April 1.

Disclosing this in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Dr Tan said the Council of Presidential Advisers had considered the proposed Budget and recommended that he assent to the Supply Bill, on the basis that the Budget is unlikely to draw on past reserves.

He said he had also been briefed by the Finance Ministry, and had exercised his discretionary power provided for under the Constitution to give his assent.

The President can veto Budgets that are likely to dip into reserves accumulated during a previous term of Government.

The green light from Dr Tan paves the way for the Supply Bill to become law, and it will control how much the Government is allowed to spend, and on what, in FY2014.

The spending plans were approved in Parliament last Thursday, after MPs spent nine days scrutinising the Government's and individual ministries' budgets. This comprised $64.37 billion of spending in total for FY2014, along with $24.78 billion in development estimates.

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