Budget 2020: Boon for some, muted impact for most listed firms

Anita Gabriel

Published Wed, Feb 19, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

IN sunnier times, there would have been jumbo winners on the Singapore Exchange from hotels, malls and aviation firms to retailers as a result of the cash splash, plentiful rebates on taxes to rents, delayed consumption tax and loans doled out by Singapore's Budget 2020.

Instead, except for certain players in the consumer sector with one hands-down winner - supermarket operator Sheng Shiong - analysts are not expecting businesses to see a major revenue uplift from the Budget measures which were largely aimed at cushioning the blow for sectors hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak.

"The beneficiaries are sectors that are most affected by the slowdown caused by the Covid-19 virus. As such, these will not result in a sharp increase in revenue, but are measures aimed at tr…