In a Facebook post on 17 February 2020, NTUC Assistant-Secretary General Desmond Choo hoped that the Budget this year will see more targeted measures to help businesses defray costs.
Some instances could come in the form of licensing fee reductions, deferred loan repayments, and bridging loans.
“The Government has said that this year’s Budget will roll out a strong package to help businesses, including tax rebates, wage support and rental waivers. This is very encouraging … These will be especially helpful to our local small- and medium-sized firms. It would improve cashflow and allow workers to be paid,” he added.
Mr Choo also said that the Labour Movement has seen sectors such as aviation, retail, hospitality and tourism being affected by the Covid-19 situation, and it is starting to see the situation affecting businesses beyond these sectors.
“For example, manufacturing and logistics are seeing slowdowns. Some companies had cancellations of orders while others lacked materials and workers to fulfil orders. These cause significant cashflow issues. We must prepare for that.
“NTUC and our tripartite partners have been working with companies to explore ways to tackle the challenges together. When companies receive additional support to better cope with business costs, this will help to save our workers’ jobs,” he said.
