The government has shot down proposals to build a casino to help solve Singapore's economic woes, media in Singapore reported yesterday.
Two ministers pointed to the adverse social consequences and cited law and order issues accompanying gambling, the Straits Times said.
The Tourism Working Group, a government-appointed task force, recently recommended that casinos be legalized, arguing that gambling would help double tourism revenue within 10 years.
"We've studied this many times, and every time there's a recession, somebody thinks it might be a good idea," Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien-loong was quoted as saying. "But I think we have to consider the social implications."
He said that he opposed a change in gambling laws.
Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan-seng said that a casino would not boost tourism.
Arrivals in Singapore have been falling since April and are considered likely to drop further.
Casino proponents note that Singaporeans already spend heavily on a lottery, horse racing and in cruise ship casinos.
"Casinos are not the solution," Wong said. "The solution ... is to ensure that the whole region remains stable, which means that the countries in the region must take very strong action against terrorist groups and terrorists."
Meanwhile, the prospect of war in the Middle East and prevailing weakness in the world's major economies could force Singapore to trim its growth forecasts for the year, Lee said.
"I think if you look forward, it's a very uncertain outlook," the deputy prime minister told local reporters over the weekend. "Our exports are not so strong, therefore our growth will be affected too," the Straits Times quoted him as saying.
The Singapore economy is officially projected to grow 3 percent to 4 percent this year after slumping to its worst ever downturn last year when gross domestic product shrank 2 percent.
However, preliminary estimates released early this month showed GDP in the third quarter to September fell 10.3 percent compared with 13.2 percent growth in the second quarter, triggering fears Singapore could be headed for another downturn after last year's recession.
The tiny island-state's fortunes are heavily dependent on exports particularly to the US and other major economies including Japan and the EU.
"I think it's very unlikely that you'll have a strong recovery in America," said Lee, who is also the finance minister and chairman of the central bank.
"There's no prospect of a strong pickup in Japan and the Europeans are also going down rather than going up in the business cycle," Lee said.
RSS