Singapore’s Budget 2022 will carve out S$500 million (US$372 million) in support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have been most affected by Covid-19 restrictions over the past year, such as those in F&B, tourism and hospitality sectors.
Known as the Jobs and Business Support Package, assistance will come in the form of one-off cash grants of S$1,000 per local employee, up to a cap of S$10,000 per company.
Further, the Jobs Growth Incentive will be extended beyond its initial March 2022 expiry for another six months to help individuals who face greater difficulty finding jobs, such as mature workers who have not been employed for six months or more.
The Jobs Growth Incentive was introduced during 2020’s economic disruption to encourage firms to hire locals, by providing salary support to eligible firms and workers.
To help companies deal with rising costs, both the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme and Trade Loan Scheme will be extended to improve access to working capital and support trade financing needs respectively.
