Singapore Vote Result May Prompt Tweaks to Foreign Labor Rules
Voters wearing protective masks observe social distancing measures while waiting in line at the Poi Ching School polling station in Singapore, on July 10.
Photographer: Wei Leng Tay/BloombergSingapore’s July 10 election, which saw an unprecedented erosion of support for the ruling People’s Action Party, could prompt tighter restrictions on foreign labor and tweaks to an impending sales-tax hike, according to economists at Citigroup Inc. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
With the economy shedding jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic, “a further tightening of the foreign manpower policy is likely, with a renewed emphasis on the composition and not just the size of the foreign workforce,” including stricter eligibility requirements for white-collar employment passes, Citi economists Wei Zheng Kit and Kai Wei Ang wrote in a research note. “With population and labor force growth unlikely to accelerate, this could cap potential growth and property demand.”