Editing People's Action Party (section)

===Economic policies===
{{see also|Government of Singapore Investment Corporation|Temasek Holdings}}
The party [[Macroeconomics|economic ideology]] has always accepted the need for some [[Social welfare|welfare spending]] and for pragmatic [[economic interventionism]]. However, [[free-market]] policies have been popular since the 1980s as part of the wider implementation of a [[meritocracy]] in [[civil society]], and Singapore frequently ranks extremely highly on indices of [[economic freedom]] published by [[Liberal theory of economics|economically liberal]] organisations such as the [[World Bank]] and the [[International Monetary Fund]]. Singapore is also the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from the "Big Three" [[credit rating agencies]] of [[S&P]], [[Moody's]] and [[Fitch Ratings|Fitch]].{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Lee Kuan Yew said in 1992: "Through [[Hong Kong]] watching, I concluded that state welfare and subsidies blunted the individual's drive to succeed. I watched with amazement the ease with which Hong Kong workers adjusted their salaries upwards in boom times and downwards in recessions. I resolved to reverse course on the welfare policies which my party had inherited or copied from [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]] policies".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzbr.org.nz/documents/speeches/speeches-99/optimism_for_the_new-millennium.doc.htm |title=Optimism for the New Millennium. |date=9 December 1999 |access-date=10 May 2006 |publisher=Rotary Club of Wellington North |author=Roger Kerr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307184005/http://www.nzbr.org.nz/documents/speeches/speeches-99/optimism_for_the_new-millennium.doc.htm |archive-date=7 March 2006}}</ref>

Notably, since Singapore's independence in 1965, the party has also supported the creation of [[state-owned enterprise]]s, known within Singapore as [[List of government-owned companies|Government-linked Corporations (GLCs)]], in order to jumpstart [[industrialisation]], spearhead [[economic development]] and lead to [[economic growth]] (primarily [[job creation]]) in various sectors of the [[Economy of Singapore|Singaporean economy]] as there was a lack of private sector funds and expertise, particularly in the early years of nationhood. Various GLCs were formed to pursue strategic sectors such as in ship building and repair ([[Sembcorp Marine]], [[Keppel Corporation]]), aviation and defence ([[Singapore Airlines]], [[ST Engineering]]), telecommunications ([[Singtel]]), real estate ([[CapitaLand]]) and development finance ([[DBS Bank]]) amongst others. In addition, various GLCs were set up as [[Public–private partnership|private-public partnerships]], notable as joint ventures or strategic alliances with foreign companies or investors with relevant expertise, particularly in the [[petrochemical]]s and [[Oil refinery|oil refining]] industries.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ling |first1=Hui Tan |last2=D. Ramirez |first2=Carlos |title=Singapore, Inc. Versus the Private Sector: Are Government-Linked Companies Different? |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2003/wp03156.pdf |website=imf.org |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=July 2003}}</ref>