The timeline for Singapore’s third pandemic exit phase will depend on the development of a vaccine, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat told Parliament today, teasing plans to give the economy a shot of steroids.
In an update on the country’s pandemic progress and strategies to push-start prosperity, Heng outlined the challenges that remain ahead one month after measures were relaxed to allow more employees back to the workplace and higher capacities at theatres and worship halls.
“In our fight against Covid-19, we are currently in a stable position, but we must remain vigilant. Amid the uncertainties, we are adapting to living with the virus,” he said.
To position Singapore’s running start on full recovery, he said a new five-year plan to transform Singapore into a “smart nation” through research and enterprise would be unveiled in December. The government committed S$19 billion to the program in 2016 to enhance research on digital technology and support areas such as early childhood development, lifelong learning and public health. The next phase will focus on expanding the manufacturing, aviation, and maritime sectors.
He spoke after Health Minister Gan Kim Yong told lawmakers that the nation would remain at an elevated public health threat level “for the time being” despite the low number of new cases in recent months. He also said they are working to allow more than five people at social gatherings.
To fully reopen safely in the coming months, the task force is working on four areas: securing early access to vaccines, enhancing COVID-19 testing, conducting better contact tracing, isolating the infected, and abiding by safety protocols.
Heng said that Singapore has been supporting COVAX, an international effort to make an approved vaccine for the virus widely and openly available throughout the world. He also gave a shout-out to new testing technologies. Just last month a nose-jabbing robot was rolled out, and voluntary TraceTogether tracking tokens have been made available to the public.
Baby-Making Scheme
He also teased more money for families with newborns to discourage procreation from taking a slump due to pandemic anxiety.
Eligible families with newborns will receive another handout on top of the existing, one-time “Baby Bonus Cash Gift” of up to S$10,000 in benefits. He didn’t go into detail but said more details would come soon.
On Sunday, Heng announced that close to one million HDB households would get big boosts – up to 250% – on this month’s support installments. Under the GST Voucher U-Save rebate program, residents get disbursements every three months from S$630 million set aside for this fiscal year.
With greater job uncertainty, households are understandably concerned about expenses.
To better support our lower- and…
Posted by Heng Swee Keat on Saturday, 3 October 2020
In August, Singapore recorded its worst GDP performance in history, falling 42.9% during the second quarter.
That same month, Heng announced a fifth round of COVID-19 spending worth S$8 billion to support the unemployed, struggling businesses and faltering tourism industry. Nearly S$100 billion was set aside to address the economic impacts of COVID-19, mainly through cash payouts, rental and foreign worker levy waivers, and salary support.
As of today, Singapore has officially counted 57,812 infections and 27 deaths since January.
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