SINGAPORE: On Monday, February 26, the first day of the parliamentary Budget debate, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh reiterated the Workers’ Party’s (WP) demand that the government implement interest-free SkillsFuture loans.
The WP secretary-general stated that while the SkillsFuture top-up provided in the Budget is a significant initiative, training would be easier with an interest-free loan.
The party generally favors Budget 2024 because it “not objectionable” and “captures the Singapore that all of us seek.” However, in response to the statement, he suggested that providing a SkillsFuture loan could assist in addressing the growing gap between ambitions and reality.
During his Budget speech, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that Singaporeans over 40 will earn an extra S$4,000 (US$2,970) in SkillsFuture credit in May, on top of the S$500 credit they had received at age 25.
The Workers’ Party sees the deployment of SkillsFuture credits towards economically productive courses with employment outcomes as an important policy initiative of this Budget.
