Debated in Parliament on 4 Sep 2020.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) to date, what is the total number of employees supported by the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) with breakdowns according to (i) SMEs and non-SMEs respectively and (ii) employers' aggregate revenues of less than $10 million, between $10-100 million, between $100-$250 million and more than $250 million respectively; (b) what is the total dollar quantum of JSS payouts granted to companies with breakdowns according to (i) SMEs and non-SMEs respectively; and (ii) employers' aggregate revenues of less than $10 million, between $10-100 million, between $100-$250 million and more than $250 million respectively; and (c) what is the total number of employees supported by JSS and total dollar quantum of JSS payouts granted to companies that do not experience a fall in aggregate revenues in the first half of 2020.
Since the introduction of the Jobs Support Scheme or JSS at the Unity Budget in February, over $16 billion of payouts have been disbursed to more than 150,000 employers. This has helped to support the wages of over two million local workers. $15.5 billion of the JSS payouts went to SMEs. This accounts for 73% of the local workers supported by the JSS. [Please refer to "Clarification by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance", Official Report, 4 September 2020, Vol 95, Issue No 6, Correction by Written Statement section.]
As labour cost share of business costs tend to be larger for SMEs compared to larger firms, the JSS, as a wage support scheme, provides greater support for SMEs.
As for the breakdown by revenue bands – below $10 million, between $10 million and $100 million, between $100 million and $250 million, and above $250 million – the dollar payouts are: $5.8 billion, $4.0 billion, $1.6 billion, and $4.9 billion respectively. The corresponding proportion of local workers supported by the JSS is: 46%, 24%, 9% and 21% respectively.
We do not have data on which companies had no drop in revenue in the first half of 2020. We do not collect such data at such short intervals, so as to ease the administrative burden on firms. As an alternative, we have made use of other sources of data, reports and industry feedback to provide different levels of JSS support to different sectors, based on the impact of COVID-19. This ensures that we strike a balance between being more targeted in our assistance and the speed in disbursing support.
Mr Louis Chua.
I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for the answer. Just few clarifications. In terms of the revenue requirement, may I ask if the Ministry would consider granting additional support to companies who may have suffered a sharper decline in revenues as opposed to some of the companies which is right now classified under Tier 3B, for example, which potentially may even have their revenues increased during this period, put more resources to companies which may have suffered a greater fall in revenues rather than from an overall sectoral approach.
I think, as I mentioned in my reply, we do not collect the data in order to ease the administrative burden of firms in terms of the level of revenues to which they may have suffered. But the tiered approach provides a fairly quick, fairly good approximation of the sectors and these measures are being reviewed, even as we speak.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa.
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