Heng Swee Keat

Heng's fourth budget took place on 18 February 2020. Referred to as the "Unity Budget", it covered measures to cover uncertainties long-term against the backdrop of the developing 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Less than a week after on 26 March, Heng delivered a second budget, an additional S$55 billion "Resilience Budget" in response to the worsening situation of the pandemic and to mitigate the economic impact on businesses. It was the second time in Singapore's history since the financial crisis of 2007–08 that past reserves had to be used to fund the initiatives provided. Measures include a cash grant of S$9,000 for eligible self-employed persons as well as S$3,000 for lower-income recipients under the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme (WIS) as emergency relief against the pandemic. Heng also mentioned that this will likely be the worst contraction ever in Singapore's economy since 1965.

Despite his stroke, Heng is still seen as the leading contender to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore after the 2020 election.

He is widely believed to be poised as the next Prime Minister of Singapore, succeeding the incumbent Lee Hsien Loong. On 1 May 2019, Heng became the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore while the two incumbents Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam effectively relinquished their posts on the same day. He is also the first solo Deputy Prime Minister in 34 years, Singapore had two sitting deputy prime ministers working concurrently from 1985 to 2019.

On 23 April 2019, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Heng will assume the role as the 12th Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore effectively from 1 May 2019, taking over Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who previously served in the office for 10 years and 8 years respectively.

On 22 November 2018, Heng succeeded Teo Chee Hean as the Party's first Assistant Secretary-General. The following day, on the CEC election, Heng was appointed as the first Assistant Secretary-General.

On 24 April 2018, it was announced that Heng will take over responsibility for assisting the Prime Minister on National Research Foundation matters from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean effectively from 1 May.

On 19 February 2018, Heng announced on his annual budget statement in parliament that he plans to raise GST from 7% to 9% some time between 2021 and 2025. He said, "the GST increase is necessary because even after exploring various options to manage our future expenditures through prudent spending, saving and borrowing for infrastructure, there is still a gap".

On 12 May 2016, Heng Swee Keat collapsed from a stroke during a Cabinet meeting. He was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he underwent neurosurgery to relieve pressure in his brain. He was transferred to the ICU after the surgery. Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, was immediately appointed to cover Mr Heng's duties.

On 25 June 2016, Heng Swee Keat was discharged from hospital after 6 weeks. The Prime Minister's Office said on a statement that Mr Heng "has made an excellent recovery", but is still on medical leave as he continues his rehabilitation. He resumed his duties as MP and Finance Minister on 22 August 2016.

On 28 September 2015, it was announced that Heng will be the Minister of Finance from 1 October 2015.

In August 2012, Heng was tasked to lead a new ministerial committee to conduct a broad-based review of the Government's policies and direction.

In February 2011, Heng was named the Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year by the British magazine The Banker.

At the 2011 general election, Heng was a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate in the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (Tampines GRC). When he was introduced as a candidate, former Prime Minister (and Emeritus Senior Minister) Goh Chok Tong tipped Heng to be a potential minister and core member of Singapore's fourth generation leadership team. Heng was one of five PAP candidates in his constituency in a team led by then-Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan, which also included Minister of State Masagos Zulkifli, Irene Ng, and Baey Yam Keng. They faced a team from the National Solidarity Party (NSP), led by the party's then-Secretary-General Goh Meng Seng (now the leader of People's Power Party), along with Reno Fong, Syafarin Sarif, Raymond Lim and Gilbert Goh. On polling day on 7 May, the PAP team won the contest with 57.22% of the votes. (This represented a drop of 11.29% from the PAP's percentage of the votes in the constituency at the 2006 general election.)

On 18 May 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Heng to the Cabinet as the Minister for Education. Heng was the second first-term MP-elect to be directly promoted to a member of Cabinet, after Richard Hu back in 1984.

Prior to his election to Parliament, Heng served as the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) from 2005 to 2011.

In 1993, Heng obtained a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In 1983, Heng began his career in the Singapore Police Force where he was awarded the SPF Overseas Scholarship from then President Devan Nair. In 1997, he then joined the Singapore Civil Service's Administrative Service. He served a period at the Ministry of Education, before being appointed the Principal Private Secretary to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (who was then Senior Minister) in 1997. In 2001, Heng became the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He then served as managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2005 to 2011.

In 1983, Heng graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from Christ's College, Cambridge. As per Oxbridge tradition, the BA is automatically converted to an MA six years after matriculation. Thus, Heng holds a Master of Arts in economics from the University of Cambridge.

Heng Swee Keat PPA PJG MP (born 1 November 1961) is a Singaporean politician who is serving as the current Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Minister of Finance since 2019 and 2015 respectively. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is also the First Assistant Secretary-General of the party since 2018 under the current Prime Minister and the Secretary-General, Lee Hsien Loong. He previously served as Singapore's Minister for Education from 2011 to 2015. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Tampines GRC for Tampines Central since 2011.