Claire Huang

Asia–Pacific (APAC)

Senior Business Correspondent at The Straits Times

Featured in: Favicon

straitstimes.com

Articles

Temasek, Warburg Pincus-backed insurance group SRG embarks on aggressive regional expansion plan

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - The speciality insurance group that counts Singapore’s investment company Temasek and global private equity firm Warburg Pincus as majority shareholders has set its sights on an aggressive plan to expand its footprint in the region. Specialist Risk Group, or SRG, which has British and Irish heritage, is now looking to add operations in regional markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, said its Asia-Pacific chief executive Collin Yap.
Implants, drugs account for recent rise in hospital bill sizes, study of insurance claims finds

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE – A recent analysis of the drivers of healthcare inflation in Singapore found that a specific component that covers implants and drugs, and that make up the bulk of total hospital bills, has ballooned. Classified as “other fees”, this category typically also includes lab tests, ward procedure charges, costs of prescriptions and daily treatments. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Singapore healthHealthcareCost of livingInsurance
Retail sales jump 4.5% in January on festive buys, beating expectations

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - Retail sales in Singapore picked up sharply in January, beating expectations and starting the new year on a good note as Chinese New Year celebrations took place the same month. However, some analysts believe the strong numbers at the start of the year are likely to dip in February as the effects of the festive period fade.
Revolut Singapore pushing ahead with aggressive plans to cater to more users, says its chief

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - Revolut Singapore’s chief is gearing up to expand beyond the fintech firm’s current offerings of remittances, payments and investments, as he pushes on with his mission to simplify people’s financial lives here. Chief executive Raymond Ng, who took over the reins 2½ years ago, has a series of ideas in the pipeline that include partnering with Alipay so that transfers to China become easier, as well as the addition of five more currencies to its list so people can transact in them.
Budget debate: Huge difference in FY2024 surplus projection prompts questions in Parliament

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - The large deviation in surplus projections for fiscal year (FY) 2024 is a topic that was raised several times in Parliament in the past two days in the Budget debate. MPs were heartened that Singapore’s national coffers have been boosted by better-than-expected revenue in FY2024 that meant a surplus of $6.4 billion – a reversal from an overall Budget deficit of $2.6 billion in FY2023.
Singapore core inflation falls sharply in January to 0.8%, lowest since 2021

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - Singapore’s core inflation extended its decline in January to a more than three-year low, on the back of a smaller increase in prices across broad categories except for private transport. Core inflation, which excludes private transport and accommodation costs to better reflect the expenses of Singapore households, slid to 0.8 per cent year on year, from a revised 1.7 per cent in December. This is the lowest since June 2021, when core inflation was 0.6 per cent.
Budget 2025: Govt revenue in FY2024 lifted by various taxes, clocks $6.4bn surplus

2 months ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE - Singapore’s national coffers have been boosted by better-than-expected revenue in the fiscal year (FY) 2024, led by the jump in corporate income tax, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in his Budget speech on Feb 18. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said firms paid more in corporate income tax, which was up 6.5 per cent year on year to $30.9 billion in FY2024. This is up from the estimated $28 billion.
Life insurance sales in Singapore up nearly 20% to $5.9 billion in 2024

2 months ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - A surge in consumers taking up investment-linked plans helped Singapore’s life insurance business to recover strongly in 2024 after a drop in sales the previous year. The life insurance sector here grew 19.7 per cent year on year in 2024 to $5.87 billion in total weighted new business premiums, which is a rough measure of new sales, according to figures from the Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore (LIA) on Feb 13..
Pay with crypto to party and travel? Some younger consumers prefer this, but growth is slow

2 months ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - From buying a phone online to settling a bar tab at a nightclub, consumers and businesses seem to be more open to using cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The first item Mr Yong Ming Yang paid for in cryptocurrency was a Web3 phone he bought online, in the first half of 2024.
Illicit crypto volume drops in 2024, but use in terrorist financing up: Report

2 months ago | straitstimes.com | Claire Huang

SINGAPORE - Even as the volume of illicit transactions in cryptocurrency fell in 2024, its use in terrorist financing, while still limited, continued to grow, a report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs found. In its 2025 crypto crime report released on Feb 10, the firm said the volume of illicit transactions dropped 24 per cent year on year to US$44.7 billion (S$60 billion) in 2024.