Businesses will continue to get help to transform: DPM Wong
No new measures; last package gave firms support to become more energy efficient
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Businesses will continue to get help to restructure and transform their operations to become more energy efficient, and the Government will continue to study what other help it can provide them in the coming Budget, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Friday.
Responding to queries on why there was no help for businesses in the latest round of support measures, Mr Wong said there was quite a bit of help for businesses in the last package, in particular, energy-efficiency grants.
Such restructuring is important for businesses to not only cope with the current economic situation, but to also sustain their operations in the longer term, he added.
Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, on Friday announced a new $1.5 billion support package aimed at giving Singaporean households additional help to deal with rising prices.
Among the measures announced were a special cost-of-living payment of up to $500 for individuals and additional Community Development Council vouchers.
This package comes after a separate support package announced in June, where the Government said that businesses would be provided with up to 70 per cent funding support to adopt energy-efficient equipment in some areas.
The Government is working with businesses here to make full use of earlier announced schemes as some adjustments will have to be made because of a tighter labour market and higher energy prices, said Mr Wong.
"They have to restructure their operations and transform their operations to be more energy efficient and to make good use of labour," he said.
"That restructuring is important for businesses to not only cope with the current situation, but to sustain their operations in the longer term."
Business restructuring and transformation have been a focus of the Government, and it has provided some schemes in this year's Budget, as well as earlier support packages, to help companies.
"We will continue to study what other help measures we can provide for businesses in the coming Budget, with the aim to enable businesses to restructure and transform their operations," said Mr Wong.