Debated in Parliament on 4 May 2020.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the same quantum of wage subsidies can be given to supporting service industries/companies of hotels which derive 100% of their business from the hotels.
The Ministry of Finance recognises the significant challenges faced by firms during this difficult time. As such, various support measures have been introduced through the Unity, Resilience and Solidary Budgets.
The Jobs Support Scheme is meant to provide wage support to employers to help them retain their local employees during this period of economic uncertainty. In this regard, all eligible employers who have made CPF contributions for their local employees will qualify for at least 25% wage support. In the Resilience Budget, greater support of up to 75% is provided for sectors that are more significantly and directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as aviation, tourism and food services. In the Solidarity Budget, the support has gone up to 75% for all sectors for the month of April. This has since been extended to include the month of May. In addition, there are also other support for companies.
The economic linkages across firms and sectors are intricate, and hence, many firms have been affected by this unprecedented global pandemic. Some firms, as a matter of strategy, may choose to focus their businesses on a particular customer segment and may, as a result, have higher exposure to the harder-hit sectors. We appreciate the challenges that they are facing, and they can submit an appeal for a higher tier of support from the Jobs Support Scheme via IRAS' website. We will assess each appeal on its merits on a case-by-case basis.
We encourage firms to take this opportunity to review their business strategies, accelerate their business transformation plans and diversify their revenue sources, as the economic landscape is changing rapidly.
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