TEMASEK Holdings must stick to making investments on a purely commercial basis and cannot swoop in to rescue ailing local companies, as some MPs have suggested, said Senior Minister of State for Finance Lim Hwee Hua yesterday.

She said Singapore's investment company should continue to operate independently of the Government and keep a purely commercial focus on maximising shareholder returns.

Undertaking a national agenda would 'validate some of the concerns over sovereign wealth funds having political objectives, and may ultimately impede Temasek's ability to participate in investments internationally', she explained.

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