Daily briefing: SG, 3 others test cross border central bank digital payments; Tax revenue declines

And Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee awarded $210,000 in defamation suits.

From Reuters

Singapore, along with Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa, plans to test cross border central bank digital payments.

The test is intended to gauge if the different central bank digital currencies allow for a less costly and easier transactions.

“The multi-CBDC shared platform... has the potential to leapfrog the legacy payment arrangements and serve as a foundation for a more efficient international settlement platform,” Assistant Governor Fraziali Ismail, Bank Negara Malaysia, said in the statement.

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From CNA

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore reported tax revenue collected in the year 2020/21 declined by 7.3% to $49.6b.

The decline was linked to the COVID-19 pandemic that has “dampened” business activities in Singapore, the authority said.

The collected tax revenue is 73.6% of the government’s operating revenue and 10.6% of Singapore’s gross domestic product.

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From Bloomberg

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was awarded some $210,000 in damages, relating to the two defamation suits against a blogger.

The High Court ruled that blogger and chief editor of The Online Citizen Terry Xu and another writer “acted recklessly, with indifference to the truth and with ill-will.”

According to Xu’s lawyer, Lim Tean, the blogger will raise the amount through crowdfunding.

Read more here.