MPs urge more help for firms amid Covid-19 outbreak

Singapore

SUPPORT for firms amid the Covid-19 outbreak was the main theme of the Budget debate's second day. Of the 23 Members of Parliament (MPs) who took the floor, more than half lauded current efforts but asked if more can be done.

Many asked for a longer duration of help. Foo Mee Har asked if the three months of 8 per cent wage offsets in the Jobs Support Scheme could increase to six months of 12 per cent offsets.

Noting that the scheme covers the last quarter of 2019, Chong Kee Hiong asked: "What about businesses that started operating this year but are also affected by Covid-19?"

He and other MPs hoped that help could be disbursed swifter. Noting that banks might only approve new loans in mid-March and disburse them in mid-April, Ong Teng Koon said: "For some, this will be too late."

Mr Ong also raised the plight of sandwiched medium enterprises. Noting the corporate income tax rebate's S$15,000 cap, he called for help to be scaled by company size instead.

There were calls to help more sectors, with Lee Bee Wah naming construction, and Nominated MP (NMP) Mohamed Irshad asking for financial support for healthcare workers.

Perhaps some measures could last till the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) level returns to green, said Ms Lee, such as lower rents for JTC and Housing Board tenants, and lower taxi rentals.

In turn, Ang Wei Neng, chief executive of ComfortDelGro's taxi business, wanted more government relief for taxi drivers - perhaps matching the rental rebates from taxi companies - as he warned that "taxi companies will go into the red over the next few months" but cabbies will still suffer.

Christopher de Souza suggested that landlords be obliged to declare if they have passed on property tax rebates to tenants, while Tin Pei Ling asked if freelancers could be given access to working capital loans or other measures to alleviate cashflow woes.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Manpower Low Yen Ling, Mayor of the South West district, said that the S$20 million going towards community development councils in Budget 2020 would aid an initiative to provide meals to vulnerable families - which would also bring business to participating food courts, coffee shops, and heartland enterprises affected by Covid-19. Details of the scheme are being worked out.

Skills upgrading was another focus. NMP Lim Sun Sun noted that workers might lack motivation if they doubt that skills will translate into real gains. Alex Yam hoped for protection for SkillsFuture course providers - mostly SMEs - in making claims.

To support caregiving, NMP Yip Pin Xiu and Louis Ng proposed mandatory parental care leave, with Mr Ng also asking for childcare sick leave, on top of current mandatory childcare leave. Employees could also be given the legal right to request flexible work arrangements, said Ms Yip.

Longer-term issues included environmental and fiscal sustainability. In response to Budget 2020 moves for adoption of electric vehicles, Dennis Tan, Mr Irshad, and Mr Ang agreed with the need for cleaner vehicles but raised concerns such as increased demand for electricity and the reliance on natural gas for energy generation.

"We do not want Singapore to bet on the wrong green car," said Mr Ang, hoping for support for alternatives such as hydrogen vehicles too.

On the fiscal front, Cedric Foo and Foo Mee Har saw risks associated with the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) from invested reserves. In a low interest rate environment, it will be increasingly challenging to get high returns, said Mr Foo. He also noted the risk of lower corporate tax revenues if proposed tax changes by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development go through.

It might be prudent to set a threshold on NIRC dependency, "beyond which recurrent spending should only be funded through recurrent revenue", said Ms Foo, adding: "There is still room to consider wealth tax and estate duties - all aimed at building an even fairer and more equal society."

With all the scheduled MPs having spoken, the Budget debate continues on Friday with a round-up speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.