Budget 2024 is a fine balancing act, addressing the immediate challenges of businesses, such as rising costs, while keeping the focus on longer-term issues like managing the impact of climate change, an ageing population and the artificial intelligence (AI) transformation.
However, experts at a roundtable organised by The Straits Times and UOB on Feb 19 said building the capabilities of businesses and their workers and managing costs related to the transition to a net-zero economy amid a greying population will remain an ongoing effort. “This Budget is not going to do everything. It is more like, I think, a down payment on many of these plans, which will be realised in the future,” said economist and associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences Walter Theseira. Mr Kok Ping Soon, chief executive officer of Singapore Business Federation (SBF), noted that the new $1.3 billion Enterprise Support Package (ESP) will tackle clear and present challenges by helping to manage the rising costs of doing busines