A medical staff collects samples for COVID-19 testing in Singapore. (Photo: AFP/VNA) Singapore (VNA) –Singapore spent 72.3 billion SGD (51.3 bilion USD) on fighting the COVID-19pandemic over the past two fiscal years, Singapore’sSecond Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah said at a recent meeting of the country's parliament.
Of this sum, 13.4 billion SGD went to publichealth measures. Another 50.6 billion SGD was used to assist workers andbusinesses, while 8.3 billion SGD for household and social support.
The amount was lower than the 100billion SGD the Government had earlier committed, said Indranee.
She attributed the lower spending tothe fact that that the Government had initially set aside loan capital in financialyear 2020 in anticipation of a tight credit market, but this was not needed, adding that under-utilisationin public health spending was also a reason.
The Ministryof Finance (MOF) has started a review of controls and checks onpandemic-related procurement and expenditure since earlier this year, Indraneesaid.
Drawinglessons from COVID-19 experience and reportfrom the Auditor-General’s Office, the MoF is reviewing guidelines onprocurement, contract management and payment to ensure its control measuresare appropriate for future emergencies, she said./.
