Business leaders call for fine-tuning of some virus help measures for firms
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Singapore's $4 billion Budget package that will offer relief to businesses affected by the outbreak is targeted at protecting jobs and workers' salaries, among other things, said Mr Heng Swee Keat.
ST PHOTO: LIN ZHAOWEI
Yuen Sin
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Business leaders yesterday described measures in the Budget to help firms cope with the coronavirus outbreak as substantial and wide-ranging, but said some of these initiatives still need to be fine-tuned or improved.
Speaking at a post-Budget forum organised by Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Kurt Wee noted that there have been efforts to improve businesses' cash flow.
One such measure was to raise the maximum loan quantum under the Enterprise Financing Scheme's Working Capital Loan component from $300,000 to $600,000, to help ease the daily operational cash-flow needs of businesses.
Mr Wee suggested that the Government explore the possibility of working with banks to issue a six-month moratorium on principal repayments for business loans, so that firms have more time and space to re-evaluate their business strategy in the coming months.
His suggestion would see businesses having to pay only interest for the six-month period, without the loans being classified as non-performing loans.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, one of the panellists alongside Mr Wee, also took questions from the public at the forum, which was held at the Capitol Theatre.
Addressing a question about whether the Government has considered following in the footsteps of Hong Kong, which will give a HK$10,000 (S$1,800) handout to seven million permanent residents to jump-start the weakened economy, Mr Heng said that Singapore takes a different approach.
Singapore's $4 billion Budget package that will offer relief to businesses affected by the outbreak is targeted at protecting jobs and workers' salaries, among other things, said Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister.
"When workers feel assured (about job security), consumer spending will also be boosted," he said in Mandarin.
Business leaders said that some tenants have also faced issues with their landlords, who have been slow to share the 15 per cent property tax rebate announced in the Budget on Feb 18 for qualifying commercial properties with tenants.
Acknowledging their concerns, Mr Heng urged landlords to share the rebates with tenants.
"Landlords also stand to gain when tenants can continue with business operations," he said.
Government agencies will bring stakeholders together at a meeting to address the ongoing tussle between tenants and landlords over rental rebates, he added.
