'Singapore needs more babies, immigrants'

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Prime Minister on Sunday urged Singaporeans to have more babies and said his government would try to lure more immigrants in order to avoid a critical population shortage and ensure economic survival.   

"To sustain our growth and prosperity, we need to have enough people living and working in Singapore. This means we must encourage families to have more children, and also attract more new immigrants here," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a televised National Day Rally speech.   

The government has introduced tax rebates, baby bonuses, and longer maternity leave in the last two years to encourage women to have more babies, but with no sign of reversing the trend towards smaller families among its 4.4 million people.   

The number of babies born each year is well below the 2.1 per woman needed to replenish its population. Last year, the rate fell to 1.24, compared with 6 in the late 1950s.   

Lee, son of the city-state's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, also addressed a range of economic and social issues in his third national day address.