Singapore Announces S$800 Million Enhanced Support Measures For Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)

SINGAPORE, May 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore will be enhancing its support measures for businesses and individuals that will cost S$800 million under the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) period of May 16 to June 13, 2021. The package will comprise, among others, enhancements to the Jobs Support Scheme for affected sectors, rental relief for small and medium enterprises, and non-profit organisations in commercial properties, as well as the COVID-19 Recovery Grant (Temporary). The republic is currently implementing tighter restrictions on higher-risk activities under Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) to curb the spread of COVID-19 community cases. Announcing the enhanced support measures here today, the republic’s Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said the support package will be funded by a reallocation of spending. “So, there will be no draw from past reserves for these enhancements, and I will table a Supplementary Supply Bill at the next parliamentary sitting in July to effect the reallocation. “But given the circumstances, and given the fact that many businesses are already needing help, we thought that we should announce the measures first and explain what we are doing,” he said. Wong, who is also the co-chair of the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force, said the pandemic is likely to be around for some time. “We will all have a role to play to develop more resilient strategies to adapt to this new environment,” he said. The government, he said, will continue to help businesses and individuals adapt and transform, and create and seize new opportunities. “In the private sector, enterprises themselves will need to take a sustainable and collaborative approach to strengthen their industries in the face of major disruptions,” he said. As of Friday noon, the republic reported a total of 61,970 COVID-19 caseloads. -- BERNAMA