SINGAPORE - Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat is recovering well and making steady progress, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post on Monday (May 30) evening.

Doctors have advised Mr Heng not to receive visitors yet so that he can get as much rest as possible, said PM Lee, adding that he was "fully lucid, communicative, and cheerful".

PM Lee said Mr Heng gave him "two thumbs up" after being told that arrangements had been made to look after residents in Tampines GRC, where he is an MP, during his recuperation.

"Swee Keat wants to thank everyone for their support. He especially sends his greetings and best wishes to his Tampines residents and volunteers, who have been asking after him," PM Lee wrote after visiting Mr Heng at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) intensive care unit on Monday evening.

Mr Heng, 54, had collapsed suddenly from a stroke during a weekly Cabinet meeting on May 12.

Doctors at TTSH had successfully closed a ruptured aneurysm that had caused bleeding in his brain.

While he recovers, his duties have been taken over by several ministers and other Tampines GRC MPs.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the previous finance minister, is back helming the ministry.

Mr S. Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), was appointed co-chairman of the Committee on the Future Economy.

Ministers and MPs said they were relieved to hear that Mr Heng is recovering well.

In a Facebook post on Monday night, Minister in Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing said he updated Mr Heng's activists on his condition.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli, who was meeting activists at the People's Action Party's (PAP) Tampines Central branch, said they took a photo to send Mr Heng a thumbs up.

Fellow Tampines GRC MP Baey Yam Keng said activists were relieved and happy to learn of Mr Heng's recovery.