Additional Reporting By Ian Tan Hanhonn
Since Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat delivered the Resilience Budget speech 11 days ago on 26 March 2020, the Covid-19 “pandemic has exploded”.
Against this background, Mr Heng delivered an unprecedented Solidarity Budget on 6 April 2020 that touched on six enhancements:
The Solidarity Budget will cost Singapore a further $5.1 billion.
Read on for details:
Under the JSS, the Government will now raise the wage subsidy for all firms to 75 per cent of gross monthly wages for the first $4,600 of wages paid in April 2020, for each local employee. Local employees refer to both Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.
The Government will also bring forward the JSS payouts to companies from May 2020 to April 2020.
Previously in the Resilience Budget, the Jobs Support Scheme subsidised 25 per cent of the first $4,600 of gross monthly wages for all local employees.
Companies on GIRO and PayNow will start receiving the first JSS payouts in the week of 13 April 2020. Meanwhile, those who are not on GIRO and Paynow will receive the payout one week later.
Employers who have foreign workers will have their levies waived for April 2020.
The Government will also provide employers with a Foreign Worker Levy Rebate of $750 for each work permit or S pass holder, based on previous levies paid in 2020.
The rebates will be paid out as early as 21 April 2020, according to Mr Heng.
“The Government recognises that firms have been paying Foreign Worker Levies in normal times. So in these exceptional times, we are temporarily redirecting resources back to the firms, to enable them to provide support for their foreign workers,” said Mr Heng.
According to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo in her parliamentary speech, employers of foreign work permit and S Pass holders will no longer receive the daily allowance paid to employers of quarantined workers, in view of the levy waiver and rebate.
This supersedes the Government’s earlier statement regarding the daily quarantine allowance, added Mrs Teo.
To help businesses deal with the impact of Covid-19, Mr Heng had earlier announced a Property Tax Rebate of up to 100 per cent for non-residential properties for taxes payable in 2020.
For most properties, the 100 per cent Property Tax Rebate works out to slightly more than one month of rent.
The Law Ministry will introduce a bill on 7 April 2020 to ensure property owners pass on the Property Tax Rebate in full to their tenants, said Mr Heng.
The Government will further strengthen financial support for enterprises “so that viable businesses can continue to have access to credit despite the uncertainty.”
Mr Heng announced that the Government will increase its risk share of loans made under the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme and the Enterprise Financing Schemes, from 80 per cent to 90 per cent.
This will apply for loans initiated from 8 April 2020 till 31 March 2021.
“The economy needs support and intervention in many different forms to go through this rough patch. I urge all businesses, landlords, financial institutions and industry players to do your part, in channelling the Government’s support measures to firms, workers and households,” said Mr Heng.
The SIRS will also be expanded to support more self-employed persons.
First, the Government will extend SIRS to automatically include self-employed persons who earn a small income from employment work. According to MOM, these refer to freelancers who earn less than $2,300 a month, which is the current Workfare income ceiling.
The current Annual Value threshold will also be raised from $13,000 to $21,000. This will help to include those who live in some condominiums and other private properties, said Mr Heng.
MOM also said that eligible self-employed persons aged 37 and above who declared a positive net trade income will be automatically notified and receive their first payout in May.
Mr Heng added that the other criteria remain unchanged.
With these enhancements, some 100,000 self-employed persons will automatically be eligible for the scheme and will receive three quarterly payments of $3,000, starting from May 2020.
“In these extraordinary times, many such self-employed persons are hard-hit. I hope that by our helping them, they too can help others in their networks, and their workers, and we keep the spirit of enterprise alive.
“In the spirit of Tripartism, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng has also agreed to step up and help administer the application and appeals for SIRS, and support self-employed persons in need,” said Mr Heng.
He also urged freelancers who do not need the support to not appeal as doing will take up resources that can be used for those who need the assistance.
Mr Heng also announced a Solidarity Payment of $600 in cash. The $600 payout will be given to every adult Singaporean, above the age of 21.
According to MOF, the payouts will be given out on 14 April 2020.
The other cash payouts under the Care and Support Package will be brought forward to June 2020, instead of August 2020, as previously announced.
“For those who still need more support, please approach our Social Service Offices and Community Centres, to apply for new schemes such as the Temporary Relief Fund and the upcoming COVID-19 Support Grant, which is available from May 2020, as well as existing ComCare schemes.
“Some Singaporeans will also be emotionally affected or distressed in this period. So besides financial support, let us provide emotional and mental health support to our people,” urged Mr Heng.
To fund the new measures, Mr Heng said that the President had given in-principle support to draw an additional $4 billion from Singapore’s past reserves.
