Singapore budget: city state set for US$12 billion surplus as Wong unveils AI ambitions

Singapore expects a surplus of S$15.1 billion (US$12 billion) or 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product for the 2025 financial year, more than double an initial projection of S$6.8 billion, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has said as he unveils an aggressive bid to pursue AI ambitions in his annual budget speech.The higher revenues came from corporate income tax and asset-related revenue collections such as stamp duty and vehicle quota premiums, Wong said on Thursday.For the 2026 financial year, he was expecting a surplus of S$8.5 billion, or 1 per cent of GDP.The voucher amount to ease cost-of-living pressures for residents dropped slightly from the previous year, when S$800 was distributed to each Singaporean household. A total of S$500 will be paid out to households in January next year.The scheme, called Community Development Council vouchers, was first introduced amid the Covid-19 pandemic to help lower-income households ease cost-of-living pressures and support hawkers and merchants affected by the pandemic.A further cost-of-living cash payment ranging from S$200 to S$400 would be made to Singaporeans in September, Wong said.A new tax revenue from the country’s tobacco tax, already one of the world’s highest, would increase by 20 per cent from Thursday, Wong said. Singapore previously increased the rate by 15 per cent in 2023’s budget.