Who owns the $700b (or whatever)? Who benefit from it? I would say Citizens benefit more than non-citizens.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/explainer-how-much-surplus-govt-has-accrued-under-current-term-and-what-happens-it describes how each term of the PAP government (each administration) contributes or draws upon the past reserves.

— https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/size-of-reserves-cannot-be-disclosed-as-a-matter-of-national-security-says-heng-swee-keat says the past reserve is at least S$700b, invested by three sovereign funds.

HKMA official website declares about USD 540b of reserves.

— based on https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/if-situation-deteriorates-significantly-due-to-covid-19-dpm-heng-12480226

He said for the financial year 2019, the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) was the largest single contributor to the Budget, representing 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

This is a “highly unusual and very fortunate position”, said Mr Heng, who noted that this was not the case in most advanced countries that pay about 2 per cent of their GDP in debt-servicing of accumulated debt.

On the other hand in Singapore, the reserves have generated substantial returns, which help to keep taxes low. “Today, the NIRC at S$17 billion is more than personal income tax collections at S$12 billion, and GST collections at S$11 billion. If we did not have the NIRC, even doubling personal income tax, or doubling the GST rate to 14 per cent, would still not be enough,” said Mr Heng.

“Tell me in which other country are citizens able to reap the benefits of past savings in this way?” he added.

“So let us never forget that what we have inherited is very unusual and very precious. Let us be responsible and steward these properly for our future generations.”

The reserves have also given Singapore, a small country with no natural resources, the confidence to deal with the ups and downs in the world, said Mr Heng. In 2009, then-President Nathan approved a draw of S$4.9 billion from the past reserves to fund the Resilience Package. A year later after the economy rebounded sharply, the Government decided to return the money used to the past reserves. “It did not have to, but did so, to maintain the discipline that has allowed this unusual move in the first place,” said Mr Heng.