, Singapore

3 in 4 firms seek a second support package

Defraying wage costs and tax rebates were the most sought-out subsidies.

Nearly three in four or 73% of businesses feel that a second stimulus package should be as large or greater than the $4b package announced in Budget 2020, according to a poll by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

Slightly more than half or 55% of respondents were hoping that it can be rolled out immediately or in a month’s time.

The most sought-out support were for defraying wage costs (21%), more tax rebates (17%) and support in the area of manpower (15%), but businesses were also looking for help with managing cash flow (13%) and rental costs (11%).

The poll was conducted during the federation’s Budget 2020 webinar. Of the 188 respondents, 69% were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Over four in five or 86% said that their business is ready to ride out the current situation for at least six months, with the rest expecting to hold out for at least three months. However, 87% expect the situation to moderately impact their plans to transform and internationalise.

Join Singapore Business Review community
Join Singapore Business Review community
A NOTE FROM SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Top News

Silos deepen when AI lacks top-down mandate, executives warn
Senior executives from four sectors agree: AI deployed without context makes silos worse.
AI returns favour companies that redesign work, says A&M
Most firms are caught in the dip of a productivity J-curve, they added.
UOB expands payment options for China-bound travellers
It will roll out China QR payments via its TMRW app by the end of 2026.