Budget for FY2009 Key Budget Initiatives
Resilience Package totalling $20.5 billion
- to save jobs to the maximum extent and help viable companies stay afloat
- to prepare emerge Singapore with strength when the global economy recovers
- to enhance capabilities and competitiveness for the long term
- to help avert an even sharper downturn and prevent permanent damage to economy
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Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam describes Singapore’s economic downturn and global conditions in introducing Budget for FY2009.
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Key Budget Initiatives for businesses and households
$5.1 billion to preserve jobs
- Jobs Credit – a 12% cash grant on first $2,500 of wages
- Enhancing SPUR to help PMETs re-train
- WIS Special Payment to low-income workers
$5.8 billion to stimulate bank lending
- Bridging Loan Programme to loans of up to $5 million
- New risk-sharing schemes for trade financing
Tax concessions and measures costing $2.6 billion to ease business cash-flow
To ease business cash-flow
- 40% property tax rebate for industrial and commercial properties
- Property tax deferral for land approved for development
- Loss carry-back relief enhancements
- Tax exemption of all foreign-sourced income earned
- 30% road tax rebate for goods vehicles, buses and taxis
- Waiver of Special (Diesel) Tax for unhired taxis
To strengthen competitiveness and capabilities
- Corporate Income Tax Rate (CIT) reduction to 17%
- Accelerated capital allowance for plant and machinery acquired
- Accelerated write-down of renovation and refurbishment expenses
- $200 million Test-Bedding Fund
- $400m top-up to National Research Fund
$2.6 billion additional support to Singaporean households
Direct Assistance to Households
- Doubling of GST Credits and Senior Citizens’ Bonus
- 20% personal income tax rebate capped at $2,000
- 40% property tax rebate for owner-occupied residential properties
- Additional S&CC rebates for eligible HDB households
- Additional rental rebates for eligible households in public rental flats
- Enhanced Additional CPF Housing Grant for first-time home buyers
Targeted Help for Vulnerable Groups
- Increased Public Assistance rate
- Increased Singapore Allowance for government pensioners
- $100m top-up to each of the ElderCare Fund and Medical Endowment Fund
- Enhanced Financial Assistance Scheme and new Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme for students
- $10m top-up to the Public Transport Fund
Support for Charitable Giving and the Community
- Increased tax deduction for donations madeto Institutions of Public Character and other approved institutions to 250%
- Additional $15m to Government-funded Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs)
- Increased funding of $4m to self-help groups over two years
- Increased funding to $7m to the CCC Comcare Fund for the next two years
$4.4 billion construction projects in four areas
- $1.3 billion of infrastructure projects to be brought forward to 2009
- $1 billion funding for sustainable development programmes over five years
- Development of suburban nodes, road and rail networks, drainage and sewerage networks, and public housing estate rejuvenation
- Upgrade of education and health infrastructure
Budget Position
- To draw $4.9 billion from past reserves to fund Jobs Credit and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative.
- $8.7 billion deficit for revised Overall FY2009 Budget Balance, 3.5% of GDP.
(The Basic Balance, which excludes transfers to endowment funds and contributions from Net Investment Returns, is a deficit of $14.9 billion or 6.0% of GDP.)
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