Fap think tank now says cpf is not invested in gic

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GOVT THINK TANK NOW SAYS CPF IS NOT INVESTED IN GIC

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10 Dec 2014 - 2:44pm








In a sudden about turn, government think tank Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) now say that the CPF is not invested in the government investment firm GIC.

“CPF funds are not managed by GIC,” research fellow at IPS Christopher Gee was quoted by The Online Citizen to have said.

“CPF funds are invested in SSGS – which are essentially IOUs issued by the government – that pay interest at rates pegged to those payable into CPF members’ OA and SMRA.

"The proceeds from the SSGS are combined with other funds from the issue of standard Singapore Government Securities, and placed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore together with other government assets.

"Periodically, transfers are made from all of these co-mingled funds to the GIC to invest for the long-term.

But this is markedly different from what the government had said earlier this year.

In July this year, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had said, "after the GIC was set up in the early 1980s, it was essentially the GIC that manages CPF assets."

Mr Tharman then said, "Which brings me to the next question about whether GIC knows it is managing CPF assets.

"GIC knows it is managing Government assets. That is the Government’s mandate for the GIC.

"The mandate is irrespective of the sources of funds it manages, which comprise the SSGS, the SGS, Government surpluses, the proceeds from land sales - all Government funds."

However, the GIC Board of Directors is made up of the Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong as the Chairman, the ex-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew as the Senior Advisor, Mr Tharman himself as one of the directors, and the other deputy prime minister Teo Chee Hean and several other ministers as the other directors as well.

As such, it is without a doubt that the GIC would know that it is is managing the CPF.

Thus the about turn by government think tank IPS is surprising.







The sudden flip flop also comes on top of denials by the Singapore government on the use of CPF by the GIC over the past many years.

In 2001, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had denied that the CPF is invested in the GIC. He denied this again in 2006.

Mr Lee had said, "The CPF invests members' savings only in absolutely risk-free Singapore government bonds."

It is evidently not true.

Then-manpower minister Ng Eng Hen also denied this in parliament in 2007.

When the Worker's Party Secretary-General had asked, "Does the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) use money derived from CPF to invest?," Dr Ng had said, "The answer is no."

The PAP government has continuously denied taking Singaporeans' CPF to invest in the GIC until May this year when prime minister Lee Hsien Loong sued blogger Roy Ngerng, before the government finally admitted to the truth that it does.

As such, an about turn just after six months is suspicious.

What is even more shocking is that Mr Gee also said, "The way in which the GIC manages its funds is therefore a separate matter of overall governance and its responsibility to its client, the Singapore government."
However, since the CPF is indeed invested in the GIC, the government cannot claim that the governance of the GIC is separate from the CPF.

Since the CPF is fully invested in the GIC, there is every responsibility that the GIC accounts in a fully open and transparent manner to CPF members and Singaporeans.
As of today, the government still has not provided full reports on the GIC's usage of Singaporeans' CPF funds.

RELATED:
GOVERNMENT STUDY: CPF GIVES GOOD RETURNS AND IS SAFE
DPM THARMAN ANSWERS ROY NGERNG'S QUESTIONS AT CPF DIALOGUE
BACK IN 2007, IT WAS CLAIMED IN PARLIAMENT THAT GIC DOES NOT INVEST CPF FUNDS


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