COMMITTEE TO STUDY ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SINGAPORE

Mr Shriniwas Rai asked the Prime Minister if he will appoint a committee to study the economic situation in Singapore.

Mr Lee Yock Suan (for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, Sir, there is no need to establish another separate committee to study the economic situation in Singapore.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry and the other economic agencies are closely monitoring the economic situation. They rely on regular meetings with businessmen, surveys of companies, and statistics on trade and industrial production. This combination of on-the-ground feedback and timely, hard data enables the Government to keep close tabs on the economic situation and the problems faced by businesses and Singaporeans during this difficult period.

In addition, there is already established a Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness (CSC), chaired by the Minister for Trade and Industry, and comprising private sector members from all the economic sectors. The CSC was originally tasked to assess and make recommendations to sustain Singapore's economic competitiveness in the medium to long term. But since the regional crisis began, the CSC has broadened its scope of work to cover the impact of the crisis on Singapore, and the immediate measures needed to sustain the Singapore economy. The Government took into account the CSC's inputs when it formulated the economic measures in the FY1998 Budget and more recently in the off-Budget package.