Economy & business

• Since January 2020, eight hair and beauty salons previously reported for unfair practices have signed Voluntary Compliance Agreements or been investigated by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore.
• Of these eight firms, six have opened new outlets or relocated existing outlets, with four of these new outlets located in HDB heartlands.
• Three of the eight salons are under active investigation and are listed on the Consumers Association of Singapore's Company Alert List, which urges extra consumer caution.
• CASE monitors salons with VCAs closely and may refer them to CCCS for investigation under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act if necessary.

• Edward Chia asked if the Ministry could provide subsidies for HDB buyers to rent interim housing in the open market due to COVID-19 delays and limited PPHS supply.
• Desmond Lee acknowledged the inconvenience from BTO delays and noted that many buyers find alternative housing or use the PPHS, which is being expanded and prioritized.
• The Minister stated that direct subsidies for open-market rental are not planned, as they could drive up rents, but low-income households without options may receive Interim Rental Housing on a case-by-case basis.
• HDB will also consider waiving penalties for flat buyers who cancel BTO bookings to purchase resale flats due to delays.

• The Minister reported that the six-month re-entry rate for senior retrenched residents improved from 39.3% in Q3 2020 to 43.8% in Q2 2021, and employment for those aged 60 and above slightly increased from 38.5% in 2019 to 39.0% in 2020.
• Senior workers are being placed in a wide range of sectors, with seven in ten finding jobs in Administrative & Support Services, Wholesale & Retail Trade, Accommodation & F&B Services, and Community, Social & Personal Services.
• The government introduced the $1.5 billion Senior Worker Support Package in 2020, which includes wage offsets, grants for higher retirement and re-employment ages, part-time re-employment support, and CPF transition offsets to help employers retain and hire older workers.
• The measures are designed to support both job retention and new job placement for older workers aged 60 and above during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Miss Rachel Ong asked the Minister for Manpower about the number of workers displaced from SME closures since March 2020 and how many have found new jobs.
• The Minister responded that retrenchments peaked at about 26,000 in 2020 but have since improved, with 2,340 in Q2 2021, and the six-month re-entry rate for retrenched residents rose to 64.4% in Q2 2021, comparable to pre-COVID levels.
• The government supports displaced workers through the tripartite Retrenchment Taskforce, which provides proactive outreach, employment assistance, career resources, and coaching from Workforce Singapore and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute.

• The Bill aims to consolidate government borrowing for debt and investment purposes by repealing the External Loans Act, Local Treasury Bills Act, and Treasury Deposit Receipts Act.
• It introduces miscellaneous amendments to streamline borrowing frameworks and align them with current market practices.
• The Minister for Finance presented the Bill, with the President’s recommendation signified, and it underwent its first reading in Parliament.
• The Bill will proceed to a second reading at the next parliamentary sitting and be printed for legislative review.

• The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill was introduced to amend the existing Goods and Services Tax Act.
• The bill was presented by the Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong, with the recommendation of the President signified.
• The bill underwent its First Reading and was scheduled for a Second Reading at the next available Parliamentary Sitting.

The Minister for Finance introduced the bill to amend the Exchanges (Demutualisation and Merger) Act. The bill received its first reading and was scheduled for a second reading in January 2022. The amendment aims to update existing legislation governing stock exchange demutualisation and mergers. The process is part of routine legislative updates to maintain regulatory relevance. The bill was formally printed for parliamentary consideration.

• The Ministry of Education granted rental waivers to school canteen operators during school closures, with four months in 2020 and two months plus a half-month in 2021 to support them during the pandemic.
• There are currently about 2,380 school canteen stallholders across government and government-aided schools, a slight decrease from 2,410 in 2020.
• Both canteen operators and their assistants can access the COVID-19 Recovery Grant if they meet the qualifying criteria, addressing concerns about financial assistance for affected staff.

• Christopher de Souza asked whether grants can be provided for content creation to help SMEs transition to digital markets and remain competitive.
• Josephine Teo stated that the government supports SMEs through programs like SMEs Go Digital and the Productivity Solutions Grant, which can cover content creation and digital marketing costs.
• Additional support includes pre-approved digital solutions for e-commerce, free Start Digital Packs for new SMEs, and grant-backed B2B/B2C platforms for market expansion.
• The government is continuously reviewing and updating these schemes to ensure they meet the evolving needs of SMEs.

• The Government has maintained a late payment rate below 5% since Financial Year 2018, achieving rates of 3.8% in FY2018, 2% in FY2019, and 1.8% in FY2020 through process streamlining, e-invoicing adoption, data analytics, and senior management support.
• InvoiceNow, a nationwide e-invoicing network launched in 2019, has over 40,000 locally registered entities signed up, including more than 7,000 public sector vendors, with the public sector onboarded since January 2020 as a preferred channel.
• Steps to encourage InvoiceNow adoption include monthly business briefings, direct engagements, ensuring solution provider readiness, low-to-no-cost onboarding options for smaller businesses, a $200 E-invoicing Registration Grant until end-2020, and targeted outreach for larger vendors.

• The Government enhanced the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for sectors like F&B, and affected companies can appeal for higher tiers due to non-uniform impacts and industry classification limitations, with about 4,600 companies having received extended support.
• Agencies like Enterprise Singapore and the Singapore Tourism Board are helping companies transform and pivot to new business models through stakeholder collaborations and grant programmes such as the Enterprise Development Grant and Temporary Bridging Loan.
• Companies are advised to adapt to permanent changes in business operations and consumer behavior, utilizing available advisory services to explore growth opportunities and internationalize.

• Murali Pillai proposed requiring banks and payment firms to disclose interchange fees for credit and debit card transactions to enhance competition in Singapore’s payments landscape.
• Tharman Shanmugaratnam, responding for the Prime Minister, stated that merchants already receive disclosure of merchant discount rates (MDR), which include interchange fees, allowing them to negotiate better deals.
• MAS believes the current transparency on MDR is sufficient, as the competitive payments ecosystem already encourages PSPs to offer attractive rates, with merchants having the option to switch providers or use cheaper alternatives like PayNow and SGQR.

• The Government uses chargeable income before partial tax exemption and startup tax exemption as the denominator for calculating average effective corporate tax rates, ensuring these schemes’ benefits are reflected in the final rate.
• Chargeable income is defined under section 38 of the Income Tax Act and includes adjustments for group relief and loss carry back, but not for the partial tax exemption and startup tax exemption.
• Losses from loss-making companies are not netted off against the chargeable income of other profitable, unrelated companies in the calculation.

• Member Kwek Hian Chuan Henry proposed that HDB allow self-employed persons to use liquidatable investments like stocks and bonds to meet home loan eligibility criteria, similar to bank savings, as many young Singaporeans invest instead of keeping low-yielding deposits.
• Minister Desmond Lee explained that HDB’s credit assessment for loans is based on income and cash flow, with employed persons using CPF contributions and self-employed persons using bank statements to prove stable cash surpluses for mortgage payments.
• The Minister noted that stocks and bonds are dynamic and market-dependent, making them less reliable than bank statements for assessing an applicant’s latest financial situation and creditworthiness at the point of application.
• HDB assesses each case individually and exercises flexibility where feasible to assist applicants who do not meet standard credit guidelines, aiming to support homeownership aspirations.

• Foo Mee Har raised concerns about the rising personal debt among young adults below 30 years old and asked about its sustainability and preventive measures.
• Tharman Shanmugaratnam, speaking for the Prime Minister, stated that MAS has stringent prudential borrowing limits and that data shows no worrying signs of rising indebtedness among young adults, with defaults, credit card rollover balances, and unsecured personal loans all showing declines.
• He noted that average mortgage balances for young adults fell, with only a small fraction holding secured personal loans, and emphasized financial education through school curricula and MoneySense outreach to promote responsible credit use.

• The Minister for Finance noted that while Singapore's GDP growth forecast has been upgraded, the recovery remains uneven, with aviation and tourism sectors lagging behind.
• The government has shifted its support from job retention to job creation, tapering the Jobs Support Scheme while introducing the Jobs Growth Incentive.
• A balanced approach is being taken, focusing on sector restructuring and reskilling while providing targeted help for slower-recovering industries.
• The government will continue to recalibrate support based on each sector's specific needs to ensure measures are effective and value-for-money.
• A $24 billion allocation over three years is set aside to support firms and workers in emerging stronger from the crisis.

• The Minister confirmed that property cooling measures have effectively moderated price increases, citing a drop from 9.1% to 1.2% growth between 2017–2018 and 2018–2019.
• The Government aims to ensure a stable property market aligned with economic fundamentals and will adjust policies as needed, including through Government Land Sales.
• The Ministry will continue monitoring the market closely and is prepared to calibrate the supply of private housing land to meet demand.

• Dr Wan Rizal questioned how the Ministry of Health balances public health protection with consumer choice in light of a recent case where a health supplement company was fined for false cancer cure claims.
• He also asked whether the Ministry is collaborating with other agencies to issue import alerts for unsafe dietary supplements to promptly remove harmful products from the market.
• Ong Ye Kung explained that health supplements do not require HSA approval as they are not meant to treat diseases, but HSA prohibits medicinal ingredients and false medical claims, conducts post-market surveillance, and provides guidelines and public advisories to ensure safety and informed consumer decisions.

• Joan Pereira proposed subsidies for delivery riders to afford motorcycles amid rising COE prices.
• S Iswaran referred to a prior response on a related COE proposal for motorcycles used for delivery work.
• The debate highlighted concerns about the financial burden on delivery riders due to high motorcycle COE costs.

• Minister Tan See Leng rebutted the PSP's Motion, presenting data to show that local PMET employment, wages, and vacancies have grown despite increases in foreign PMETs, arguing that the PSP's proposals would harm Singapore's economic competitiveness and deter investment.
• The Minister emphasized that Singapore's foreign talent policy aims to complement locals and rejected the PSP's focus on FTAs like CECA as the cause of job anxieties, labeling such claims as misleading and potentially dangerous.
• Mr Leong Mun Wai countered that the government's policies have hollowed out the Singaporean core, advocating for rebalancing through measures like a levy on Employment Pass holders and quotas to protect local jobs.
• Multiple Members of Parliament supported the government's Motion, warning that protectionist policies could drive away businesses and jobs, while also acknowledging the need to strengthen support for mid-career workers and address workplace discrimination.
• The debate concluded with a rejection of the PSP's Motion and the Workers' Party's amendments, affirming the need to stay open to global talent while intensifying efforts to secure jobs and livelihoods for Singaporeans.