Singapore’s Solidarity Budget for COVID-19 Explained

A third tranche of all COVID-19 support steps that includes money payouts and extra support for occupations will likely probably cost the Government S$5.1 billion, together with S$4 billion to be attracted out of Singapore’s reservations. The extra steps – including wage subsidies for each and every neighbourhood employee, money premiums for all adult citizens and more aid for its self-employed – will require the Government’s joint COVID-19 support bundle to S$59.9 billion,” said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Monday as he declared the Solidarity Budget.

This increases the S$48.4 billion Resilience Budget published on Mar 26 along with the S$6.4 billion Unity Budget declared in February. The total budget deficit for FY2020 increases to S$44.3 billion or 8.9 percent of GDP, stated Mr Heng, who’s also the Finance Minister. Before, President Halimah Yacob had awarded her in-principle service for the authorities to draw to S$17 billion in previous reservations to finance a few of the steps in the Resilience Budget. “Together with the significantly stricter editorial steps required to safeguard Singaporeans and our own families, it’s now crucial for us to indicate a further draw on past reserves,” said Mr Heng. The President has contributed in-principle service to draw an extra S$4 billion in the reservations, ” he explained.