Singapore to tap reserves for $30 bln in new virus support measures

Singapore on Thursday unveiled more than $30 billion in new measures to help businesses and households fight the coronavirus pandemic that threatens to push the bellwether economy into a deep recession. The new measures, which include wage support, loan schemes, and tax breaks, amounting to around S$48 billion ($33 billion) and will see the government dip into its national reserves for the first time since the global financial crisis.

The hard-hit aviation and tourism sectors received sizeable support in packages that will raise the city-state's budget deficit in FY2020 to S$39.2 billion, equivalent to 7.9% of GDP. "The COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious crisis we have faced in a generation," Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said.

"We will stand with our workers and businesses to ride through this economic storm together." The measures, which also involve a three-month pay cut for political office holders, come weeks after Singapore unveiled multi-billion dollar virus-fighting plans in its annual budget.

Singapore has won global plaudits in its two-month-long battle with the virus, but a recent surge in infections has forced authorities to shut its borders and entertainment venues, battering firms across the travel and finance hub. The city-state reported its biggest daily rise in new infections, 73, on Wednesday and its first deaths from the virus over the weekend. ($1 = 1.4467 Singapore dollars)