The Singapore government today released a SGD 48 Billion Supplementary 2020 Resilience Budget to supports workers, stabilise businesses and build resilience and help them emerge stronger.
Since the release of Singapore’s Budget 2020 on Feb 18, COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated into a global pandemic.
The global economy has been hit and so too were Singapore businesses.
Small wonder then that support in the form of the SGD 48 billion package is being welcomed with big relief by Singaporeans and Singapore businesses.
Here's a look at the key support packages and schemes in the Resilience Budget 2020:
Supporting Workers, Protecting Livelihoods
❖ Jobs Support Scheme
- Government will pay 25% of monthly wages for every local worker in employment, capped at $4,600, for 9 months till end-2020
- Higher support for sectors more affected by COVID-19, of up to 75%
❖ Wage Credit Scheme
- Additional payout to be brought forward from Sep to end-June 2020
❖ COVID-19 Support Grant
- Cash grant of $800 per month for 3 months, for low- and middle-income Singaporeans who lost their jobs due to COVID-19
❖ Temporary Relief Fund
- Provides immediate financial assistance for families whose livelihoods were affected by COVID-19
❖ NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19)
- Provides one-off relief of up to $300 per union member
❖ SGUnited Jobs
- About 10,000 jobs available over the next year, to facilitate employment for jobseekers
❖ SGUnited Traineeships
- Supports employers in providing traineeships to fresh graduates entering the labour force, to help boost employability for new graduates
❖ SkillsFuture Credit
- Advance use of SkillsFuture Credit top-ups for select courses, from 1 Apr 2020
Supporting Self-Employed Persons (SEPs)
❖ SEP Income Relief Scheme (SIRS)
- Eligible Singaporean SEPs will receive $1,000 a month, for 9 months
❖ SEP Training Support Scheme
- Extended till end-2020
- From 1 May 2020, training allowance enhanced to $10/hour
❖ Point-to-Point Support Package
- Special Relief Fund payments of $300 per vehicle per month for taxi hirers and private hire car drivers, till end Sep 2020
❖ Enhanced Workfare Special Payment
- Benefits about 50,000 lower-income SEPs
Supporting Families
❖ Enhanced Care & Support Package
- Triple the current payout under Care & Support – Cash for all Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2020, t0 $300, $600 and $900
- Parents, with at least one Singaporean child aged 20 and below in 2020, will each receive an additional $300
- All Singaporeans aged 50 and above in 2020 will receive their $100 PAssion Card Top-up in cash
- Singaporeans living in 1-room and 2-room HDB flats will receive $300 in Grocery Vouchers in 2020, and $100 in 2021
- Enhanced Workfare Special Payment to $3,000 in cash in 2020, for Singaporeans who received Workfare payments for work done in 2019
- Double the grant to Self-Help Groups to $20m over 2020 and 2021, and increase the grant to Community Development Councils to $75m in 2020
❖ Greater Flexibility on Government Fees and Loans
- Suspend student loan repayments and interest charges for 1 year, from 1 Jun 2020 to 31 May 2021, for graduates of Autonomous Universities and polytechnics
- Suspend late payment charges on HDB mortgage arrears for 3 months
Supporting Businesses
❖ Enhanced Property Tax Rebate for 2020
- Increased Property Tax Rebate for qualifying commercial properties, such as hotels, serviced apartments, tourist attractions, shops and restaurants, from 15% or 30%, to 100% • Increased Property Tax Rebate for Integrated Resorts from 10% to 60%
- All other non-residential properties will receive a new 30% Property Tax Rebate
❖ Enhanced Rental Waivers
- Increased rental waiver from 1 month to 3 months, for stallholders in hawker centres managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators
- Increased rental waiver from 0.5 months t0 2 months, for eligible tenants of Government agencies
- All other non-residential tenants of Government agencies receive 0.5 months of rental waiver
❖ Cash Flow Support
- Expanded Temporary Bridging Loan Programme to all sectors, and increased maximum supported loan to $5m • Increased maximum loan quantum to $1m under Enterprise Financing Scheme – SME Working Capital Loan
- Increased maximum loan quantum to $10m and Government risk-share to 80%, under Enterprise Financing Scheme – Trade Loan
- Increased subsidies for loan insurance premiums to 80% under Loan Insurance Scheme
❖ Support for Capability Development
- Raised maximum support levels for Productivity Solutions Grant and Enterprise Development Grant to 80% and 90% respectively, till end-2020
- Enhanced SMEs Go Digital to support both ready-to-adopt and advanced digital solutions that reduce face-to-face contact
- Extended the enhanced training support, comprising higher course fee subsidies and absentee payroll support, to more sectors and till end-2020
❖ Resilience Building
- Enhanced government matching ratio under SG Together Enhancing Enterprise Resilience (STEER) programme
- Introduced funding support for specialised cleaning under SG Clean
Supporting Affected Sectors
❖ Aviation Sector
- Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme for businesses whose activities are based principally in the aviation sector, with a total of 75% wage offset, capped at a monthly wage of $4,600
- $350m Enhanced Aviation Support Package to provide cost relief for airlines, ground handlers and the cargo industry, as well as to maintain a minimum level of connectivity
❖ Tourism Sector
- Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme for hotels, travel agencies, tourist attractions, cruise terminals and operators, and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions (MICE) venue operators, with a total of 75% wage offset, capped at a monthly wage of $4,600
- $90m for tourism recovery efforts to help the sector rebound strongly when the time is right
❖ Food Services
- Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme for food & beverages firms, with a total of 50% wage offset, capped at a monthly wage of $4,600
❖ Land Transport Sector
- Special Relief Fund payments of $300 per vehicle per month for taxi hirers and Private Hire Car (PHC) drivers, till end-Sep 2020
- Additional support for taxi and PHC operators
- 1-year road tax rebate and 6-month waiver of parking charges at government-managed parking facilities for private bus owners, to defray operating cost
❖ Arts & Culture Sector
- $55m support package to safeguard jobs and retain capabilities, support capability development, and step up digitisation efforts