Singapore govt to introduce S$20.5b resilience package

CNA reports,

SINGAPORE: Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has said the government will implement a major fiscal package to respond to economic crisis.

Singapore is likely to experience the deepest recession since its independence, arising from the worst global economic decline in 60 years, he said when presenting the Singapore Budget in Parliament on Thursday.

He said: "Budget 2009 will deliver a Resilience Package totalling $20.5b this year, to help Singapore see through this period of exceptional difficulty. The package aims to save jobs to the maximum extent possible in the recession, and to help viable companies stay afloat. It also prepares Singapore to emerge with strength when the global economy recovers, and enhances our capabilities and competitiveness for the long term.

"The Resilience Package will not get us out of the recession, as long as the global economy continues to contract. But it will help avert an even sharper downturn, and more lasting damage to the economy."

The Resilience Package will include S$5.1b to help companies retain Singaporean workers, S$5.8b to help free up lending, S$2.6b to enhance business cash flow and competitiveness, S$2.6b to support households, and S$4.4b in infrastructure spending, the minister said.