Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his budget speech that Singapore equities market will get an additional S$1.5b boost, raising the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) from S$5b to S$6.5b. The EQDP programme was set up to develop Singapore’s local fund management industry and to increase participation in Singapore equities.
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The additional boost as a positive for Singapore’s fund management industry as well as the equity market.
A new playbook for changing times
Since the EQDP programme was announced in Feb 2025, interest in the Singapore market has picked up sharply. The programme has already borne fruits as seen from the increase in trading value and the strong outperformance of the benchmark indices such as the Straits Times Index (STI) and the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index (NTR). The former rose 30.1% since Feb 2025, while the NTR also generated gains of 30.9%.
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With the Prime Minister speech that the government will continue to “strengthen our broader equities market”, this S$1.5b top-up to the Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF) should continue to support and extend the current interest in the Singapore equity market. The STI broke the 5,000 barrier yesterday (12 Feb 2026), less than a year after piercing the 4,000 mark in Mar 2025.
Another encouraging development is the assurance to attract and build a strong pipeline of high-quality companies. Startups will also be nurtured and this could provide the future pipeline for more listed companies.
Essential services and industries will be developed further.
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Above is an excerpt from a report by OCBC Group Research. Clients of OCBC Securities may be the first to access the full PDF report @ https://www.iocbc.com/.
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