SDP says Budget 2013 has "shortcomings" which it will address in its own shadow budget

The opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) says it'll address the "shortcomings" of the government's Budget 2013

It said it will propose a more efficient way of prioritising Singapore's expenditure estimates in its own "Shadow Budget".

SDP said that the measures in Budget 2013 have failed to address Singapore's long-term needs.

It said while the Budget attempts to address systemic problems, it still falls short of addressing what Singapore really needs.

The SDP welcomes Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's effort to tackle the problem of income disparity through the Wage Credit Scheme.

Still, it felt that the scheme will not be an effective remedy if the root cause of the income gap is not addressed, namely depressed wages due to the importation of lower-wage foreign labour

Turning to healthcare, the SDP said it's heartening to note that the Budget will increase funding of Eldercare, a programme which it supports.

However, it wants the government healthcare expenditure to be raised from the current 30 per cent to the international norm of about 70 per cent.