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.

Tropika Club helps to break down the Solidarity Budget below:

Solidarity Budget in a nutshell

Solidarity Payment

• $600 for all Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2020
• Payment will be credited directly into bank accounts by 14 April 2020, or issued by cheques starting from 30 April 2020
• This comprises of a new $300 payout, and $300 brought forward from Care and Support – Cash, which was originally to be paid out from Aug 2020.

Jobs Support Scheme

• To help save jobs, Government will pay 75% of the first $4600 of monthly wages paid in April 2020, for every local worker in employment
• Wage support levels will be differentiated by sector for remaining qualifying months
• Firms will receive the first payout in April 2020, including the enhanced payout for April wages
• 75% wage support for aviation, accommodation, and tourism sectors. 50% for food services sectors, and 25% for all other sectors

Self-Employed Person (SEP) Income Relief Scheme

• Annual Value threshold raised from $13,000 to $21,000 to support more SEPs
• Automatic inclusion of SEPs who also earn a small income from employment work
• Other criteria remain unchanged
• Eligible SEPs will receive three quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 each in May, July and October 2020.

Read: COVID-19 Circuit Breaker: What’s Allowed and Not Allowed?