Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday the Government will announce 'this week' a loan access scheme for businesses, and a new training programme for workers.

There will be more measures in the annual Budget statement, which is normally in February but will be brought forward to January.

'We don't want to wait,' said Mr Lee.

He said the recession will last about a year, but it will take several years of slow growth before the economy returns to normal. Recovery, he said, would be a 'fat U', which means a protracted downturn before things get better.

His sobering message was delivered to 1,000 People's Action Party cadres at the annual party conference.

Sitting in the Toa Payoh Sports Hall, many wore grim expressions as they listened to Mr Lee, the secretary-general of the PAP, listing the two responses that the Government will offer.

One is to ensure that policies are in place to safeguard jobs and livelihoods. The other is uniting citizens during this time of adversity and providing good leadership.

On the policy front, he noted that this year's Budget, 'anticipating the difficulties ahead', had already provided more than $3 billion in different schemes to help households, workers, elderly Singaporeans, and companies.

This week, details of two new schemes to help people cope with the crisis will be announced, he said.

One is to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) get access to bank financing. Banks are now more risk-averse and have been tightening credit.

The scheme will see the Government sharing some of the risks, so that banks would be more willing to lend, Mr Lee indicated.

The other scheme is to help retrenched workers reskill for new jobs.

'This is a priority because as workers get retrenched, we have to help them with new jobs,' he said.

To be called Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, or Spur, this comes on top of existing training programmes for workers.

Despite the cloudy outlook, Mr Lee assured his audience that Singapore remains in a strong position, thanks to projects already in the pipeline that will create thousands of jobs.

In addition, because its huge reserves enabled Singapore to fend off attacks on its currency, Singaporeans need not worry about their Central Provident Fund savings losing value.

'Nobody is thinking of testing the Singapore dollar...that keeps our economy stable and therefore your savings are safe,' he said.

Inflation has also moderated, and electricity prices look set to come down in January, he added.

Besides help measures, PM Lee also emphasised the importance of good political leadership.

'We cannot sail through this storm on auto-pilot. The Government has to lead...implement the policies which are needed, mobilise Singaporeans and mount a national response to get us through,' he said.

PAP member Angela Goh, attending the party conference for the first time, was glad to see the Government speeding up its help measures.

'It is good that the Government is looking at giving help packages now as people are suffering,' she said.

sueann@sph.com.sg

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