Singapore to pump $4 billion in virus-hit economy
Singapore will set aside a budget of S$5.6 billion ($4 billion) to support the ailing economy in the city state which has been affected by the coronavirus crisis and the US-China trade war. Asides, there will be an additional package of S$800 million ($575 million) to combat the spread of the virus epidemic.
Finance minister Heng Swee Keat said on February 18 that one part of the $4-billion package will be rolled out to keep workers in jobs, help companies with their cash flow and provide additional support for businesses and consumers in sectors directly affected by the virus disease.
Another part is a “care and support package” from which households will get help with cost of living, with those less well-off receiving more. It includes a one-off cash payout ranging from $100 to $300 for every Singaporean aged 21 and above.
The bulk of the S575-million support to fight the coronavirus will go to the health ministry.
“Tectonic shifts in operating environment”: Finance Minister
“This year we usher in a new decade, one marked by tectonic shifts in our operating environment, and major uncertainties,” Heng said in his budget speech in parliament, adding that the government was putting in every effort to “slow down the spread of the virus,” he said.
The coronavirus package dwarfs the S$230 million stimulus the Singapore government rolled out in the wake of the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Due to the economic difficulties, Singapore is struggling to avoid a recession. After its economy grew at a decade-low of 0.7 per cent last year, the ministry of trade has now put a new estimated range of GDP growth between -0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent.
Singapore will set aside a budget of S$5.6 billion ($4 billion) to support the ailing economy in the city state which has been affected by the coronavirus crisis and the US-China trade war. Asides, there will be an additional package of S$800 million ($575 million) to combat the spread of the virus epidemic. Finance minister Heng Swee Keat said on February 18 that one part of the $4-billion package will be rolled out to keep workers in jobs, help companies with their cash flow and provide additional support for businesses and consumers in sectors directly affected by the virus disease....
Singapore will set aside a budget of S$5.6 billion ($4 billion) to support the ailing economy in the city state which has been affected by the coronavirus crisis and the US-China trade war. Asides, there will be an additional package of S$800 million ($575 million) to combat the spread of the virus epidemic.
Finance minister Heng Swee Keat said on February 18 that one part of the $4-billion package will be rolled out to keep workers in jobs, help companies with their cash flow and provide additional support for businesses and consumers in sectors directly affected by the virus disease.
Another part is a “care and support package” from which households will get help with cost of living, with those less well-off receiving more. It includes a one-off cash payout ranging from $100 to $300 for every Singaporean aged 21 and above.
The bulk of the S575-million support to fight the coronavirus will go to the health ministry.
“Tectonic shifts in operating environment”: Finance Minister
“This year we usher in a new decade, one marked by tectonic shifts in our operating environment, and major uncertainties,” Heng said in his budget speech in parliament, adding that the government was putting in every effort to “slow down the spread of the virus,” he said.
The coronavirus package dwarfs the S$230 million stimulus the Singapore government rolled out in the wake of the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Due to the economic difficulties, Singapore is struggling to avoid a recession. After its economy grew at a decade-low of 0.7 per cent last year, the ministry of trade has now put a new estimated range of GDP growth between -0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent.
