3 key themes Singaporeans must watch out for in Budget 2013

Expect a "litany" of tax rebates.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, other key data released together with 4Q 2012 / full-year 2012 GDP that caught the firm's attention were the divergence between cost and competitiveness measures.

Besides continued elevated inflation rate, there are rising unit labour cost (2012: +4.1% vs 2011: +3.5%) and unit business cost of manufacturing (2012: +4.0% vs 2011: +2.7%) amid slump in productivity (2012: -2.6% vs 2011: +1.3%).

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

Put together with the recent Population White Paper and Land Use Plan, the key thrusts of Budget 2013 in our opinion will, among others, focus on addressing the issues of 1) rising living and business costs where we can expect a litany of tax rebates for consumers and SMEs (e.g. rebates on GST, utilities and business rents); 2) sustaining the drive to boost productivity (and perhaps “procreativity”), efficiency and competitiveness; and 3) raising government expenditure and investment, especially targeted towards spending on public housing and transport.

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