Singapore names new finance minister

SINGAPORE: A top Singapore official who has been tipped as a future premier was named the new finance minister Friday, as the city-state overhauls its leadership succession plans following a setback. Lawrence Wong, currently education minister, was picked as the replacement for Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in a major cabinet reshuffle.

Heng was widely seen as the prime minister in waiting until he gave up his claim to the job this month in a shock move that upended the tightly-controlled country’s carefully planned power transfer. The key finance portfolio is sometimes seen as a stepping stone to the premiership, although analysts said it was too early to tell who will take over from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.