Extension of Covid-19 support measures with extended circuit breaker to cost S$3.8b

WITH the four-week extension to the circuit-breaker measures, extended support measures for workers and businesses will cost S$3.8 billion, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Tuesday evening.

Key support measures announced in the earlier Solidarity Budget will now be extended into the month of May, he said in a press conference following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's earlier announcement of an extension of the circuit breaker beyond the original May 4 ending date, through till June 1 instead.

The extended measures include a 75 per cent wage subsidy for local workers under the Jobs Support Scheme, applicable to all sectors in the month of May. Mr Heng urged business leaders to do their best to retain workers during this time.

The Jobs Support Scheme will also be enhanced to cover wages of employees who are also shareholders and directors of the company, and who are unable to benefit from the current scheme, but also miss out on the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme. This will apply to companies registered on or before April 20, and for shareholder-directors with assessable income of S$100,000 or less for Year of Assessment 2019. It is expected to benefit about 50,000 shareholder-directors.

Foreign worker levies due in May will be waived. Employers will also receive a further S$750 in levy rebates per foreign worker.

As the circuit breaker continues, the government will also tighten the list of essential services that are allowed to operate, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19.

The aim is to cut the proportion of the workforce still commuting to work from the current 20 per cent down to 15 per cent, he said.

This is important, he said, because an analysis of the new community cases since the circuit breaker measures kicked in has shown that many of these cases have been working as part of the essential-services sector, or have family members who are working.

This workforce cut will take place across all sectors of the economy, including consumer-facing ones such as food and beverage. It does mean that consumers "may not be able to access certain services that we have become accustomed to", he added.

To minimise the risk of transmission, foreign workers living in dormitories must also stop going to work, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo. This applies to workers from all companies, including those that had earlier obtained exemption to operate during the circuit breaker. The Ministry of Trade and Industry will notify such affected companies to suspend their operations for this period.