Singapore increased its cash payout to households and announced additional steps to save jobs in a third stimulus package as the city state prepares to go into a partial lockdown to contain a spike in coronavirus cases.
The additional stimulus will cost S$5.1 billion ($3.6 billion), taking the nation’s total virus relief to almost S$60 billion, or 12% of gross domestic product, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said Monday in Parliament.
That will push up the budget deficit in the current fiscal year to 8.9% of GDP, he said. Trade-reliant Singapore is reeling from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, with the government predicting a 1%-4% contraction in the economy even before new restrictions on movement begin Tuesday, including the