BORROWING COSTS
Interest rates in Singapore have risen less than in other countries, reflecting strong fiscal fundamentals that have kept demand for Singapore Government Securities healthy, Monetary Authority of Singapore deputy chairman Chee Hong Tat said.
Mr Chee, who is also national development minister, was responding to a question on how sustained rises in US Treasury yields have affected Singapore’s borrowing costs and credit availability.
He said borrowing costs remain broadly in line with historical levels. The 10-year Singapore Government Securities yield is at 2.5 per cent, against its 10-year average of about 2.2 per cent.
The three-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average, a benchmark for domestic loans, is at 1.2 per cent, below its 10-year average of 1.5 per cent.
MEDICAL BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES
The Ministry of Manpower and its tripartite partners are studying how to encourage employers to offer healthcare benefits beyond statutory requirements, Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau said.
Such benefits include reimbursing medical expenses beyond consultation fees and providing paid sick leave without requiring a medical certificate.
About 30 per cent of employers surveyed by the ministry offered paid sick leave without a medical certificate in 2024, up from around 27 per cent in 2023.
IMPACT OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ON DRIVERS
The roll-out of autonomous vehicles (AV) is not expected to have “any immediate impact” on driver jobs and livelihoods, Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said in a written parliamentary reply.
“The number of autonomous vehicles is a very small percentage of the total number of active taxi and private hire car drivers, which currently stands at 72,000,” he said.
By end-2028, there may be several hundred autonomous passenger vehicles in Singapore, deployed across various “constrained use cases” as the country remains in the phase of safety validation and establishing market demand and acceptance, Mr Siow added.
“While it is not possible to predict how many autonomous vehicles will be in Singapore in five years, it is almost certain that the majority of point-to-point transport will be provided by human drivers,” he said in response to questions from several MPs on support for taxi and private-hire drivers amid AV deployment.
MP Yeo Wan Ling (PAP-Punggol) had asked about safeguards such as a cap on AVs to pace the roll-out. To this, Mr Siow said: “We should not do so as our transport needs are still growing.”
PREGNANCY-RELATED DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS
In a written parliamentary response, Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau said the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) received 49 pregnancy-related discrimination complaints between 2019 and 2025.
“Where there is evidence of discriminatory employment practices, TAFEP will refer the complaints to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for investigation,” she said, adding that the ministry could take enforcement action depending on the severity of the case.
This includes requiring employers to rectify the lapses in their human resource processes or suspending their access to foreign workers.
Ms Lau was responding to Workers’ Party Aljunied MP Fadli Fawzi, who asked about the number of complaints made to TAFEP regarding pregnancy-related discrimination every year since 2017.
CNA reported in late September that a woman who was wrongfully dismissed because of her pregnancy and upcoming maternity leave was awarded S$19,800 (US$15,500) by an Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT).
Ms Lau said on Wednesday that employees who are dismissed because of their pregnancy may also file a wrongful dismissal claim at the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).
Between April 2019 and 2025, 387 claims for compensation or reinstatement for wrongful dismissal during pregnancy were filed at TADM. Of these, 301 – or 78 per cent – were resolved at TADM, said Ms Lau.
The remaining 86 were issued with case referral certificates, allowing claimants to file claims with the ECT, she added. The ECT awarded compensation in favour of employees in 27 – or 38 per cent – of the 72 claims filed.
Under the Workplace Fairness Act, which is scheduled to take effect by the end of 2027, it will be unlawful for employers to make adverse employment decisions based on protected characteristics, including pregnancy.