CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND (Financing of budget deficit)

Mr Ong Kian Min asked the Minister for Finance, in view of the fact that measures to reduce business costs will lead to a loss of revenue for the Government, whether he will ensure that (i) Central Provident Fund (CPF) money will not be used to finance any part of the budget deficit that may arise; and (ii) sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent such uses of CPF money.

The Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to assure Mr Ong that the Government has not and will not use CPF funds to finance budget deficits.

Where it is necessary to incur operating budget deficits in order to pay for tax cuts and economic recovery expenditures, the deficits will be financed by drawing down from the pool of budget surpluses accumulated by the present Government.