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![DPM Heng Swee Keat’s part IV budget’s announcements summary in one post. Feel free to share and check out his page for more information.
Unity + Resilience + Solidarity + Fortitude = Nearly $100 billion. Our largest budget deficit in history...but it needs to be done.
FORTITUDE BUDGET
This is a $33 billion Supplementary Budget for the next phase of our fight against COVID-19.
Jobs is the central focus of this Budget.
We will continue to support workers and businesses who remain affected by border closures and safe distancing measures. We will help our businesses and workers adapt, transform and seize new opportunities, to emerge stronger.
We will also provide additional support to our households and the community to cope with the disruptions, and resource our frontline agencies to continue this fight.
[ ENHANCEMENTS TO JOBS SUPPORT SCHEME ]
We are fully behind our businesses, as they try to get back on their feet and reopen safely after the circuit breaker. We will further strengthen our support for them on the 3Cs — Cash flow, Costs, and Credit.
We are further enhancing the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) to support businesses on the first C” — Cash flow”:
• Extended for one more month, bringing the total to 10 months of wages.
• 75% wage support for firms not allowed to resume operations, until August 2020.
• Increased support for some affected sectors, from 25% to 50% or 75%. These include aerospace, retail, marine and the built environment sectors.
In total, $23.5 billion of JSS will go to supporting firms. We urge businesses to use this additional cushion to retain your staff, speed up adaptation and move towards a viable business model.
[ SUPPORTING BUSINESSES — CASH FLOW, COSTS & CREDIT ]
We will also provide support to businesses for the second “C” — “Costs”.
The Foreign Worker Levy waiver and rebate will be extended by up to two months, for businesses that are not allowed to resume operations immediately after the circuit breaker is lifted. We will also defer the planned increase in CPF contribution rates for senior workers by one year, to January 2022.
In addition to wage cost, many businesses are also facing difficulties with rental costs, especially our SMEs. We will provide additional support in two ways:
• Cash grant to offset rental costs of SME tenants. Taken together with the Property Tax rebate provided earlier, we will, in effect, offset two months of rental for those in commercial properties, and one month for those in industrial and office properties.
• Law Minister K Shanmugam Sc will be introducing a new Bill next week. If the Bill is passed, SME tenants in commercial properties who have suffered a significant revenue drop will benefit from four months of rental relief — shared equally between the Government and landlords.
The Government will also continue to lead by example in supporting our tenants.
For the last “C” — “Credit”, in addition to the various financing schemes introduced earlier, we will provide financing support for promising startups, to help sustain their innovation and entrepreneurship activities.
[ DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION & INNOVATION ]
We will set aside more than $500 million to support businesses in their digital transformation.
First, to encourage adoption of contactless payments, we will provide eligible stallholders with a bonus of up to $300 per month for five months.
Second, to encourage adoption of PayNow Corporate, e-invoicing and e-commerce solutions, we will provide a Digital Resilience Bonus, starting with the food services and retail sector.
Third, we will launch a set of National Innovation Challenges — this will focus on partnerships to develop industry-led solutions to the challenges that our businesses are grappling with.
[ #SGUNITED JOBS & SKILLS PACKAGE ]
Jobs is a central focus of this Budget. In the tough months ahead, we must be prepared for some job losses. While we cannot protect every job, you have my assurance that the Government will protect every worker.
We will launch an #SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package to create close to 100,000 opportunities, comprising 40,000 jobs, 25,000 traineeships and 30,000 places for skills training. This is to support the immediate needs of our workers, and raise the skills of our people for future jobs.
In total, about $2 billion will be set aside for the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package this year to strengthen employment and training support for our workers.
SM Tharman Shanmugaratnam will also be chairing a new National Jobs Council. The Council will be focused on creating jobs and building deep skills. This effort will be integrated with the work of the Future Economy Council.
[ SUPPORTING OUR HOUSEHOLDS ]
To thank all Singaporeans for doing our part in staying home during the circuit breaker, we will provide a one-off $100 Solidarity Utilities Credit to each Singaporean household.
The Solidarity Utilities Credit comes on top of the $600 Solidarity Payment and the remaining tranches of the Care and Support Package.
To strengthen support for our families, we will also set aside another $800 million for the COVID-19 Support Grant. This will continue to provide help for immediate needs.
[ STRENGTHENING RESILIENCE ]
We must continue to help vulnerable segments of our community cope during this period of uncertainty. Going forward, digital inclusion will be an important way for us to strengthen social resilience.
More help will be provided for groups who are less digitally connected.
• For students, the Ministry of Education, Singapore will bring forward the timeline for all secondary school students to own a digital learning device.
• For seniors, the Infocomm Media Development Authority - IMDA will launch a Seniors Go Digital Movement to equip them with digital skills and adopt digital channels.
We will also provide more support to our social service agencies, who have continued to serve the vulnerable in our community during this period.
The Government will enhance the matching for donations through Tote Board’s Enhanced Fund-Raising Programme. We will provide a top-up of $100 million, on top of the existing $70 million budget for the Programme.
We will also commit about $18 million to the Invictus Fund, which supports our social service agencies in maintaining service continuity, retaining staff and adopting technology to transform the way they work.
[ FISCAL IMPLICATIONS ]
Today’s support measures in the Fortitude Budget will commit $33 billion to support the next phase of our fight against COVID-19, and to position ourselves to emerge stronger.
Together with the Unity, Resilience, and Solidarity Budgets, we are dedicating close to $100 billion, which is almost 20% of our GDP to support our people in this crisis.
In the earlier Resilience and Solidarity Budgets, President Halimah Yacob gave approval to draw up to $21 billion from our Past Reserves.
For the Fortitude Budget, the President, in consultation with the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA), has given her in-principle support for a further draw of $31 billion to fund the measures in this Budget. In total, we are looking at drawing up to $52 billion of Past Reserves this financial year. I thank the President and the CPA for your support.
Having briefed Cabinet, the President and the CPA, DPM Heng will also set aside an additional $13 billion in the Contingencies Funds. This is to allow the Government to respond to any unforeseeable developments if the medical or economic situation deteriorates. We will do our best to avoid this, but we must be prepared for any eventuality.
#SGBudget2020
#SGUnited](https://scontent-sin6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s720x720/99122695_2605925966288370_1886230227722436608_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=xU-djszvEEoAX9XTF2Q&_nc_ht=scontent-sin6-1.xx&_nc_tp=7&oh=4796c968eecd56c7f6b8555099ad6add&oe=5F53D14F)
