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Against a backdrop of global uncertainty amplified by the pandemic, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday delivered a Budget finely balanced between providing immediate help to sectors under stress and investing in Singapore's long-term future.
The $107 billion plan - the first full Budget in the Government's new term - includes an $11 billion Covid-19 Resilience Package.
This will help safeguard public health and support the workers and businesses that need help, with extra money going to the hardest-hit sectors, such as aviation and tourism.
The Jobs Support Scheme, which helped stave off retrenchments last year, will be extended until September, but in a more targeted and tapering way. This will cost $700 million. Job seekers also got a helping hand, with another $5.4 billion set aside for a fresh injection into the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.
This is on top of the $3 billion set aside last year and will support the hiring of 200,000 locals through the Jobs Growth Incentive and provide up to 35,000 traineeship and training opportunities this year.
In addition, Mr Heng pledged to allocate $24 billion across the next three years to enable Singapore's firms and workers to emerge stronger from the crisis.
The country's investments to equip its people to seize opportunities and help businesses innovate are what distinguish it from others, said Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister.
"While last year's Budgets were tilted towards emergency support in a broad-based way, this year's Budget will focus on accelerating structural adaptions," he added in a speech that underscored the need to make the country's businesses and workers future-ready.
Mr Heng announced that the salaries of nurses and other healthcare workers, who have been on the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, will be enhanced, with details to be disclosed later.
He also unveiled a $900 million Household Support Package of utility grants and GST and cash vouchers to help all families, but targeted most at lower to middle-income households.
And in line with Singapore's goal to become a more sustainable society, measures will be introduced to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, with green bonds to be issued on select public infrastructure projects.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: "While grappling with the pandemic, we must not neglect the future. Hence the Budget has many items that build our capabilities and competitiveness. When the sun shines again, we must be ready to seize the new opportunities."
All these measures mean that Singapore will see a Budget deficit of $11 billion, following last year's deficit of $64.9 billion.
The Straits Times
