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SINGAPORE – Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will deliver a speech describing the progress Singapore has made in fighting the coronavirus and its effects, as well as the country’s fiscal position and strategies to emerge stronger from the crisis, when Parliament meets next Monday (October 5).
Heng said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the government will also introduce a supplemental supplies bill, the third this year, next Monday to reallocate resources for measures it announced on August 17 to extend support to businesses and companies. workers.
Parliament will debate the bill and these measures, which amount to about $ 8 billion.
Heng, who is also the Coordinating Minister for Economic Policy and Minister of Finance, said his ministerial statement next week is intended to provide context for the debate.
“In the face of the profound uncertainty that looms, we will continue to adapt and chart a steady course forward,” he added.
In his post, Heng said that Singapore has been fighting Covid-19 on all fronts for the past nine months, and close to $ 100 billion (more than four budgets and a new round of support in August) have pledged to support companies and workers. and homes.
“Our collective efforts as a nation have paid off so far. We are now seeing low community transmission, but we must remain vigilant.
“We are progressively reopening our economy, in a safe way. But there is a lot of uncertainty ahead, and many people are understandably anxious about their jobs,” he said, adding that the announcement of the additional measures had provided much-needed certainty to businesses. and workers.
Among the key measures announced are adjustments to the Employment Support Program, which helps employers fund up to 75 percent of the first $ 4,600 of gross monthly salary paid to each local employee, for 10 months through August 2020 .
The measures extend wage support until March next year, staggered according to how quickly each sector is expected to recover.
The companies in the most affected aerospace, aviation and tourism sectors, which were receiving 75% salary support, receive 50% salary support for a further seven months.
The built environment sector will receive 50 per cent support for a further two months, before it is reduced to 30 per cent of wages paid until March next year, in line with the gradual resumption of construction activities.
Most other sectors will get 10 percent support for a further seven months.
However, sectors that are doing well, such as biomedical sciences, financial services, and information and communications technology, will receive this amount of support until December.
Additionally, the Covid-19 support grant, introduced in May to help Singaporeans who have been laid off or suffered a significant loss of income, was extended through December. To qualify, unemployed applicants must demonstrate job search or training efforts.
Heng said the measures would be funded by reallocating money from other areas, such as development spending that was delayed due to Covid-19.
Last month, he updated parliament that he would introduce the third supplementary supplies bill to set out details of the provisions to cover additional spending on these measures, which would then be debated by deputies.
This bill will go through the usual parliamentary procedures and must be approved by the president, he added.
Heng will deliver his ministerial statement in parliament at 1.30 pm next Monday, the Finance Ministry said.
The statement will be posted on the Singapore budget website after delivery.
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