The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has published a paper reviewing the relief measures from the five Budgets in 2020, which went towards supporting and protecting workers, families and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat introduced the Interim Assessment of the Impact of Key COVID-19 Budget Measures during a Lunar New Year visit to Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa on 11 February 2021.
The paper includes findings on how fiscal policy support measures have helped to prevent the resident unemployment rate from rising a further 1.7 percentage points in 2020.
Similar to his previous Lunar New Year visit to the hotel a year ago, Mr Heng was accompanied by union leaders as well as NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng.
Together, they met up with taxi drivers, private-hire drivers and hotel staff to find out more about how the workers have been coping with the pandemic.
Mr Heng said: “Tomorrow marks the first day of the Lunar New Year. I hope that we will begin the Year of the Ox, with renewed hope and energy, facing new challenges ahead with courage and perseverance.
“Let’s resolve to emerge stronger from this crisis and build a future with more opportunities and better lives for every Singaporean.”
According to estimates by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the five Budgets supported GDP growth by 5.5 percentage points in 2020, helping Singapore avert a deeper economic recession.
The MOF said that the economy was estimated to have contracted by 5.8 per cent instead of a forecasted 12.4 per cent or more.
The total fiscal support is estimated to have helped save or create about 155,000 jobs on average over 2020 and 2021.
On the support measures given in 2020, Mr Heng said: “To protect livelihoods, the Government devoted $73.5 billion to support workers and businesses.
“Most businesses did their best, to stay afloat and retain their workers, and more than $27 billion of grants were disbursed to businesses, mostly for the Jobs Support Scheme, helping firms keep their workers.”
One such worker to benefit from the COVID-19 budget measures is 50-year-old private hire driver Justin Lim.
Commenting on the Government grants, Mr Lim said: “They have been extremely helpful. During the pandemic, drivers are suffering. If you are in other jobs, you don’t work you don’t get a salary. In this job, you don’t work you still have to pay.”
Thanks to the various support schemes, Mr Lim was also able to upskill and has now found himself another role as a cruise ship safety inspector.
The interim assessment can be found here.
Mr Heng also took the opportunity to mention that he will be delivering his Budget Statement on 16 February 2021.
He said: “The global outlook remains highly uncertain, our economic recovery is expected to be uneven across sectors.
“We will continue to tackle the immediate challenges of the pandemic, to safeguard public health and re-open safely, support our workers and businesses where needed, with targeted help for sectors that are still under stress.”
