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NewsAsia, 24 Oct 04
Year-end
growth should be within 8%-9% forecast:
Trade and Industry Minister
By Dominique Loh,
SINGAPORE : Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said year-end
growth should hit the forecast of 8 to 9 percent despite rising oil
prices. He had more good news, saying unemployment could fall below
4 percent. Mr Lim was speaking at a community visit to Bishan-Toa
Payoh North on Sunday. But he warned Singaporeans that they may have
to adjust to higher transport and energy prices if crude oil prices
rise to US$60 a barrel from US$55 now.
Mr Lim later had an informal dialogue with residents on issues affecting
their pockets. "If oil prices remain high then the world growth will
slow and our export will be lower, so we expect that kind of impact
towards next year and the end of next year...if it is still high,
it will feed into electricity prices," he said. Still, Mr Lim says
high electrical bills are more likely due to high consumption than
high prices. He said Singaporeans should be aware of how to use energy
more efficiently to cut down their bill size.
While becoming a pro-baby, pro-family society has been a focus of
the government in the past year, one resident felt aggrieved that
benefits favour young couples and asked who would cover female workers
when they take time off to have babies. Mr Lim said: "People are used
to covering for male colleagues who go for NS, why? We recognise NS
is important, so when the male employees go for NS or reservist, the
rest of the colleagues will cover for them. Similarly when the mothers
go on NS to produce the next generation, then I think the rest of
colleagues should cover for them."
He also said employers have to find a balance between retaining older
experienced workers and hiring younger, cheaper and more tech savvy
workers.
A topic of great interest to residents was the issue of opening a
casino in Singapore. Mr Lim said the government was not dismissing
the idea, but wants to study any proposal carefully.
He even told residents what he thinks a casino should be. Mr Lim said:
"There is a different group of casinos, what we call the integrated
entertainment complex. An example is the Atlantis City in the Bahamas.
If you look at the complex, it is really a water theme park. They
have hotels, and a casino and the casino revenue is about 40 to 50
percent of the complex. "For the developer, they can make money from
the hotel but not from the water theme park, so they have a casino
to cross subsidise the water theme park, so the complex is profitable
and viable." Mr Lim said there were no firm plans yet. - CNA
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