Financial Risk:
High
Score:
49/100
Asset Disposals
Q24
67/100
How effective are controls over the disposal of assets, and is information on these disposals, and the proceeds of their sale, transparent?
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The Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is the primary agency responsible for managing the disposal of excess defence equipment for the Ministry of…
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The default approach for sales is open tendering. Tenders are performed through central government quotation/tender system GeBIZ. Details on the sale of assets includes…
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The MINDEF’s annual budget report does not make such information available to Parliament or the public [1]. When open tender applied, detailed information on…
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Q25
58/100
Is independent and transparent scrutiny of asset disposals conducted by defence establishments, and are the reports of such scrutiny publicly available?
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As with any government activity, the disposal of defence assets is tracked for accountability by internal and external auditors [1, 2]. However, there is…
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There is no evidence to suggest that independent audits on asset disposals have been unduly influenced by the executive or the military. While there…
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There is no evidence that higher audit bodies such as the AGO makes regular findings available for public awareness, and its annual reports are…
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Secret Budgets
Q26
0/100
What percentage of defence and security expenditure in the budget year is dedicated to spending on secret items relating to national security and the intelligence services?
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There is no public information on secret items relating to national security and intelligence services. The annual defence budget report is typically released in…
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Q27
0/100
Is the legislature (or the appropriate legislative committee or members of the legislature) given full information for the budget year on the spending of all secret items relating to national security and military intelligence?
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There is no evidence that audit reports on secret items have been provided to the legislature for debate. The annual budget estimates for 2019…
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Q28
0/100
Are audit reports of the annual accounts of the security sector (the military and intelligence services) subject to parliamentary debate?
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Q29
100/100
In law, are off-budget military expenditures permitted, and if so, are they exceptional occurrences that are well-controlled? In practice, are there any off-budget military expenditures? If so, does evidence suggest this involves illicit economic activity?
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Off-budget expenditures are not permitted by law and there is no evidence of any off-budget expenses in recent years, as all military expenditure is…
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This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ because there is no evidence of off-budget expenditure. The MINDEF’s annual budget is debated in Parliament and then…
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There is no evidence to suggest that off-budget military expenditures are a common occurrence. Major military equipment acquisitions, training, and operational requirements have been…
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There is no formal provision for public access to information in the government or defence sector, such as a Freedom of Information Act [1].
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. There is evidence that robust mechanisms for classifying information exist and are implemented effectively…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no formal provision for public access to information in the government or defence sector…
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Q31
100/100
Do national defence and security institutions have beneficial ownership of commercial businesses? If so, how transparent are details of the operations and finances of such businesses?
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The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are entirely dependent on the government for its budget and do not have…
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This indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, as stated in 31A, defence institutions are entirely removed from having controlling or financial interests…
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Military-owned Businesses
Q32
100/100
Are military-owned businesses subject to transparent independent scrutiny at a recognised international standard?
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As stated in 31A, defence institutions are entirely removed from having controlling or financial interests in businesses by statutory or constitutional means [1].
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This indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, as stated in 31A, defence institutions are entirely removed from having controlling or financial interests…
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Illegal Private Enterprise
Q33
88/100
Is there evidence of unauthorised private enterprise by military or other defence ministry employees? If so, what is the government’s reaction to such enterprise?
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There are strict regulations in place that expressly prohibits the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) personnel from engaging in…
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Despite strict legislation, there have nevertheless been cases of unauthorised private enterprise (though exceedingly rare) although as earlier highlighted these have resulted in considerable…
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Actual Military Spending
Q77
31/100
Is comprehensive data on actual spending on defence published during the budget year?
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Figures for actual defence spending, have consistently been published and compared with earlier projections during the annual parliamentary budget debate, but expenditure is not…
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Significant areas of defence expenditure are undisclosed without clear justification. For example, “Military expenditure” accounted for the majority of spending for the revised 2018…
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Details of actual spending are published within twelve months of the end of the Financial Year, which commences on 1 April of every calendar…
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The annual defence expenditure estimates provide a brief overview on the increase/decrease in projected and actual spending between preceding years along with broad explanations…
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