Budget 2022: balancing growth priorities on the pandemic tightrope

WHEN Singapore unveils its 2022 Budget, the world would have entered the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Planning for the Budget is well underway, but Omicron has now injected fresh uncertainty.

There's nervousness over whether existing vaccines are just as effective against the latest mutation of the coronavirus. Investors were shaken after Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel said the current suite of vaccines might be less effective against the new strain, and that new shots targeting Omicron would be months away. If so, this does not bode well for global economies looking to further re-open their borders, and adopt a living-with-Covid strategy.

When the pandemic first hit Singapore, the government allocated S$13.8 billion in response in Budget 2020. It turned out to be just the first tranche, as the government committed S$97.3 billion in all over 5 budgets to support the economy and community in fighting the pandemic. In Budget 2021, Singapore set aside S$11 billion for the Covid-19 Resilience Package to address the economic fallout from the pandemic.