The idea, says Aline Wong, Singapore's senior minister of state for health and education, is to allow government hospitals greater flexibility and creativity in how they serve patients.

CNN: HOSPITALS IN FLUX

The latest budget, unveiled on 12 June, included sizeable spending on fighting poverty, including big rises for education and health to turn around what Finance Minister David Mwiraria dubbed "four decades of misrule".

BBC: Kenya to greet IMF boss

But he added that too much of the public sector reform programme risked alienating the very staff who had to implementing it, with the prime minister's "ideological" preference for introducing private companies into the provision of services such as health and education.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Unions to 'step up' pension fight