Chairman I declare that I’m an analyst in a financial institution in Singapore.
In my adjournment motion speech earlier this year, I shared that the S$5 billion EQDP funding is an important means to encourage more third-party investments into the Singapore equities market, and I hoped it will not be a one-off measure. While the S$1.5 billion top-up in Budget 2026 is welcome, ensuring long-term sustainability is key.
In his Budget Statement, PM Wong merely stated that the reason for the top-up is to build on the momentum of the EQDP launch. Can the Government affirm its commitment to regular, sustained EQDP funding and if so, what are the conditions for determining the amount and timing of funding allocated.
Further, as I have shared last year, while the MAS has taken the lead on the demand side with the EQDP, on the supply side, I urge the Government, via its investment entities, to similarly take the lead for its companies to list on the SGX.
This has been done before, through the listing of various Government linked companies in the early years, to even the Singtel Special Discounted Shares Scheme in 1993. We can give this current generation of Singaporeans a stake in the country, via a meaningful IPO of the next wave of various private companies held by Temasek and encouraging them to list on the Singapore stock exchange.
The MAS has taken the lead with the EQDP on the demand side. I hope Temasek can lead by example on the supply side too.
