Reasons for Capital Injections into Temasek Holdings in Last 20 Years

6 Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) in the last 20 years, what is the total amount of capital injection by the Ministry into Temasek Holdings; and (b) what are the reasons for the capital injections.

Mr Lawrence Wong: As shareholder of Temasek Holdings, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) makes capital injections into Temasek through investments in new Temasek shares. Over the last 20 years, MOF has invested about S$70 billion in new Temasek shares. Of this, about S$50 billion was from Temasek's dividends to the shareholder. These investments in Temasek's shares are reflected in Temasek's audited accounts, which are public information.

All investments in Temasek's shares are done as part of the Government's decision to allocate funds across the three investment entities in its portfolio – Temasek, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). These decisions take into account the Government's liquidity needs and the long-term risk-adjusted expected returns of the entities.

Temasek's reported Total Shareholder Returns, which gives a measure of its performance, is computed by deducting any capital injections from the Government. Hence, the Government's investments in Temasek's shares do not affect how Temasek's investment returns are computed.