SINGAPORE (May 19): Singapore's financial sector is creating more jobs than local staff can fill and the city-state will lose its competitiveness and growth will be sub-par if it does not stay open to global talent, the head of the central bank said on Thursday.

Foreign labour has long been a hot button issue in the financial hub, with uncertainties during the Covid-19 pandemic further fanning employment worries among locals.

"A 'Singaporeans only' approach will be fatal for Singapore as a global financial centre as there are simply not enough locals to meet the fast-expanding specialist needs of financial institutions," Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told a forum. The central bank is also Singapore's financial regulator.

Menon's comments come at a time when Singapore is adopting stricter visa and hiring restrictions, in bit to allay local concerns about foreign workers snapping up higher-paying jobs.

The ruling People's Action party registered its worst vote share since independence in the 2020 general election, and is walking a tightrope trying to balance Singapore's attractiveness as a global business hub and local frustrations over job competition.

The move to tighten foreign hiring rules also comes at a time when Singapore is expected to be able to woo more expatriate professionals leaving the region's other main financial hub Hong Kong due to political uncertainty and after strict Covid-19 lockdowns.

But the number of foreign employment pass holders fell to 161,700 last year, the lowest in at least a decade.

Just under 30% of Singapore's 5.45 million population are non-residents, up from around 10% in 1990, according to government statistics.