Singapore business, finance and trade news, every Monday.

Drink stall at an iconic hawker centre in the central business district of Singapore — Photo by Ethan Hu on Unsplash

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Wong Puts S$70,000 on Every Newborn

Every child born from April 2027 will collect close to S$70,000 (US$55,000) in cash, grants and education top-ups by age 17, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said during his third National Day Rally. The outpouring will replace the tiered Baby Bonus and Large Families Scheme with a flat package that gives a third child no more than a first. The package starts with a S$10,000 baby gift, then adds S$32,000 in Child Credits over 16 years, matched savings and education top-ups, for more than 610,000 children in 380,000 households. Full-day childcare fees will go down to S$150 a month and infant care to S$300 by 2030, compared to as much as S$559 and S$1,256 today. Working parents will get 8 to 12 days of childcare leave depending on family size (that up from six), with the government now covering the full employer bill up to a reimbursement cap. Singapore’s total fertility rate was a low, low 0.87 in 2025.

Read more: Straits Times, CNA (US$ conversion), Straits Times (current fee rates), Straits Times (leave day breakdown), CNA (extra ballot chances)

Every Crate Is Too Much

PM Lawrence Wong also told the United States that Singapore won't trace the origin of every shipment passing through its ports. The statement was a forward answer to Washington's claim that transshipment through third countries is costing it $19 to $26 billion a year in lost tariff revenue. "Goods pass through Singapore from all over the world. We cannot possibly trace and verify the entire supply chain behind every product that passes through our shores," Wong said, even as he said he’d be sure to investigate any evidence of tariff evasion or goods made from forced-labor.

Read more: Business Times (ASEAN chairmanship 2027), Thestandard Com HK (tariff loss), Pmo Gov

MAS Counters Hong Kong on Fund Tax Breaks

MAS told finance executives packed into the Sofitel's Wallich Ballroom that it would exempt profit-related returns for managers running qualifying funds under sections 13D, 13O, 13OA, 13U and 13V of the Income Tax Act, in addition to a new hedge fund investment programme and a work-pass track for foreign talent. The closed-door talk came five hours after a public statement and also followed a July letter from the Alternative Investment Management Association warning that firms were going to be shifting staff to Hong Kong. Hong Kong's June bill scraps a 5 percent cap on incidental profits and cuts levies on carried interest, a change that will be worth millions a year to top earners. Deputy MAS chairman Chee Hong Tat said the rivalry isn’t "zero-sum" and said full details wait for February's Budget. Singapore and Hong Kong each run asset management industries worth more than US$5 trillion.

Read more: Business Times (S$6.7 trillion AUM), Business Times (November announcement)

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CapitaLand Eyes One Raffles Place

CapitaLand Investment and Malaysia's IOI Properties are closing in on a 50:50 joint venture worth about S$2.4 billion ($1.9 billion) for One Raffles Place. A deal is expected to be signed within two weeks. At S$2,790 per square foot, the price would be one of Singapore's largest-ever office deals. The buyers plan to keep the 62-storey tower, which is on an 841-year virtual freehold, but would tear down the newer 38-storey block, whose 99-year lease has only 56 years left, along with the connecting podium and mall. Sellers OUE REIT and UOB have yet to finalise terms. CapitaLand and UOB declined to comment; IOI did not respond.

Read more: Mingtiandi

India Bets Pay Off as Foreign Funds Flee

Shiprocket closed Wednesday at 143 rupees ($1.50), nearly 50% above its IPO price, finishing off a week where Milky Mist, Molbio Diagnostics and Manipal Health all traded 25% to 40% above debut prices. Temasek holds stakes ranging from more than 5% to nearly 9% in the four companies, part of nearly $9 billion it has spent in India over three years over $42 billion in total exposure. That’s about four times what it held a decade ago. Foreign investors pulled $24.7 billion from Indian equities this year through August 19, and a BofA fund manager survey this week ranked India the least favored market in Asia, blaming weak growth, slow reforms, high valuations and a shortage of AI plays. Temasek says India is its best-performing market on a 10-year basis.

Read more: CNBC

New Western Island

Semakau, Bukom and Sudong, home to the offshore landfill, the first refinery and an SAF emergency airstrip, will merge together over the coming decades with a few smaller islands, creating a western island south of Jurong Island, that would be built for advanced manufacturing, power generation and defence. It’s more or less the same strategy that created Jurong Island itself. A second road link to Jurong Island is planned, but once again, no cost or completion date was given. Engineers will study undersea tunnels to Pulau Tekong, currently reachable only by boat. More reclamation at the island's southern end will free about 500ha for civilian use.

Read more: Straits Times (additional islands considered), CNA (nuclear power IAEA), Straits Times (Long Island scale), CNA, Business Times (tunnel vs bridge)

Marina Bay Sands Laps Sentosa

Marina Bay Sands' casino pulled in US$2.1 billion in the first half of 2026, more than triple Resorts World Sentosa's take of less than US$700 million. Singapore's Gambling Regulatory Authority says that RWS's tourism performance was "unsatisfactory" in November 2024 and cut its casino licence renewal to two years instead of the usual three, beginning in February 2025. The regulator is now assessing the renewal application and will decide before the licence expires in February 2027. Genting Singapore says it is "well positioned for the next assessment cycle." MBS's licence was renewed for a full three years in 2025.

Read more: Business Times

Lee Visits Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong left for Astana on August 24 on Singapore's first official leadership visit to Central Asia, with Kazakhstan first (Aug 24-27) and Uzbekistan next (Aug 27-31). Kazakhstan is the bigger fish of the two, as it does S$326.6 million ($256.8 million) in goods trade, S$159 million in services, and S$2.1 billion ($1.6 billion) in direct investment. Uzbekistan trails far behind at S$69 million in goods trade and S$390 million in investment stock, but Tashkent is expected to sign a joint statement to get free trade agreement talks underway on this visit. Lee will also collect Kazakhstan's Order of Dostyk, First Class, an honor previously given to Lee Kuan Yew in 2012 and Halimah Yacob in 2023.

Read more: CNA (leaders' meetings), Yahoo News SG (Uzbekistan services trade)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back - hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Wong's Baby Bounty, Trade Tensions Build