For many individuals and businesses, the Budget was about “how much do I get?”, but there is much more at stake than just increasing government spending to take care of individual short-term pain, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing yesterday.

In Budget 2017, about $14 billion of the $70 billion for government spending will come from the returns from past savings.

This me...ans that "$1 out of every $5 that we are spending in this Budget comes from the income from our reserves", and this net investment income share looks set to rise with demands going up and revenues possibly shrinking, said Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

He also warned that the expected Budget surplus this year hangs in the balance because of the volatile economic situation and rising spending needs.

Some of the top contributors to the government coffers, such as net investment returns and corporate income taxes, are subject to the vagaries of economic cycles that are not within the Government's control, Mr Chan said.

So there is a need to "err on the side of caution" by ensuring government spending remains prudent and sustainable, he added.

Sources: ST, TODAY