THE FY96 EXPENDITURE ESTIMATES

Total expenditure in FY96 will amount to $18.9 billion or 14.4% of GDP. As in previous years, Social and Community Services will take the largest share at 42%. Education alone accounts for half of this. The rest will go into healthcare, public housing subsidy, the environment, community development, and information and the arts. National security accounts for the next largest share at 36%. Spending on economic and infrastructural development accounts for 12% of the expenditure estimates, which includes the development of the transportation system, civil works, research and development, the upgrading of our economy and workforce, and the promotion of inward investments and regionalisation.

Let me now elaborate on the FY96 expenditure proposals. Operating Expenditure

Operating expenditure in FY96 is projected to increase by $0.9 billion to $12.8 billion, a 8% increase over FY95. As a percentage of total operating expenditure, defence accounts for the largest share at 42%, followed by education at 24%.

From FY96, operating expenditures have been classified into Running Costs and Transfers. Running Costs refer to the day-to-day operating expenditures of Government. It includes manpower and other operating costs. Transfers on the other hand refer to payments made by Government to the public and outside organisations. They include payments for public assistance. Scholarships, compensations, direct subsidies, contributions to local and international organisations are also classified as Transfers, as these are grants to bodies outside the civil service to carry out approved programmes. This reclassification will provide a better picture of the actual cost of running and maintaining government's services.

For FY96, Running Costs and Transfers will amount to $11.9 billion and $0.9 billion respectively. Compared to FY95, Running Costs will be higher by 7.4%, while Transfers will be higher by 15.2%.

Development Expenditure

Development expenditure in FY96 is estimated at $6.1 billion, a slight decrease of $0.3 billion compared to FY95 and accounting for 32% of total expenditures.

Development spending on education will be significantly higher in FY96. The bulk of it will go into the building of new schools, technical institutes and tertiary institutions, and improving facilities in existing ones. Specific projects include building a permanent campus for Nanyang Polytechnic, boarding facilities for Nanyang Girls' High School, upgrading of the NUS campus, and the relocation of NIE to NTU. To prepare our young for the information age, the Government will also invest heavily in upgrading computer facilities in schools and tertiary institutions.

Development spending on healthcare is largely for building new hospitals and medical institutes, and upgrading existing ones to provide quality healthcare service. The major provisions are for the construction of a combined Institute of Health/National Dental Centre, the New Changi Hospital, NUH Phase 3 development, the new Kandang Kerbau Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and the Communicable Disease Centre.

Spending on civil defence and other projects of the Ministry of Home Affairs is set to double with projects such as the Civil Defence School, civil defence shelters, a new Immigration Building, redevelopment of the Woodlands Checkpoint and building a new checkpoint at the second crossing to Malaysia. Funds have also been provided to upgrade and replace operational and training equipment to further enhance the operational readiness of our Police and the Civil Defence forces.

The Government is committed to maintaining the free-flow of people and goods on our roads. The on-going programme to widen and upgrade roads and expressways, and construct junction interchanges will continue. The ERP Project is making good progress. In public transport, the Woodlands MRT Extension has been completed on schedule and below budget and came into operation on 10th February 1996. A decision has also been taken to proceed immediately with the North-East MRT Line and the Bukit Panjang LRT and to bring them into operation as soon as possible. Funds are also provided for feasibility studies into new MRT and LRT lines, such as the Marina LRT.

The capital subsidy on public housing is expected to increase in FY96 to $903 million. Half of this will go towards subsidising new flats and paying for the discount on the sale of HDB tenanted shops and rental flats. The upgrading of HDB flats, including interim upgrading to improve older estates, takes up a significant portion of the balance.

Development funds are also set aside to enhance social cohesion, strengthen the fabric of society, and promote healthy living. These will be used to develop, upgrade and maintain our sports facilities, upgrade Residents Committee Centres, construct a new Grassroots Recreation Club, and develop Community Centres/Clubs and Child Care Centres. Provisions are also made to develop homes for the aged and facilities for disabled and low income families.

The programme to cover sewage treatment works to reduce smell nuisance will continue. The development of an offshore sanitary landfill on Pulau Semakau is in progress. Land reclamation works are currently underway on Sentosa Cove, Jurong Island, the Southern Islands, Tuas View and Changi East.

R&D expenditure is budgeted at $238 million or 0.18% of GDP. Of this, $197 million will be managed by NSTB for the promotion of economically relevant R&D. The balance is set aside to promote academic and medical research under the Academic and Medical Research Funds.

The Economic Development Assistance Scheme will be extended for another 5-year term to develop our human resources, upgrade local companies, draw in strategic investments and help our local companies venture into the region. A sum of $58.5 million has been provided for FY96.