Monday Wrap: Singapore starts sustainable aviation fuel funding, Sembcorp buys Alinta Energy, and salary to grow up to 5% in 2026

Overall employment increased by 25,100 in Q3.

Last week in Singapore Business Review, Singapore created a central procurement and funding system for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Meanwhile, the recently launched iEdge Next 50 Index, Singapore’s newly launched equity benchmark, may push more investors toward mid-cap stocks as the city-state looks to broaden activity beyond the Straits Times Index’s blue-chip heavyweights.

In an interview with Rachel Chew, group chief operating officer and head of digital currencies, Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank, sees a tokenised financial world as inevitable but warns that fragmented regulations and unsettled definitions of digital money remain key obstacles.

Semcorp has bought Alinta Energy for $5b whilst ComfortDelGro received approval from the Land Transport Authority to begin public road trials of its autonomous-vehicle shuttles.

Overall employment increased by 25,100 in Q3, stronger than the 10,400 increase seen in the previous quarter, according to the Labour Market Report of the Ministry of Manpower.

Insights from PERSOL revealed that salary growth in Singapore is expected to average 3% to 5% in 2025 and 2026, with outcomes varying widely by sector and skill set. Meanwhile, net employment outlook (NEO) declined by five points to +15% for Q1 2026, compared to Q4 2025, and 11 points year-over-year (YoY) as market changes reduce demand for specific jobs or as companies downsize and consolidate.

Singapore’s economy is set to post a stronger rebound in 2025 than previously expected, according to UOB’s Quarterly Global Outlook for 1Q 2026.

Singapore Post has announced an increase in domestic-mail tariffs by 10 cents from 1 January 2026, setting Standard Regular Mail at $0.62 and Standard Large Mail at $0.90.

Singapore retail sales reached $4.4b in October 2025, an increase of 4.5% year-on-year (YoY).

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