The hard-hit tourism, and food and beverage sectors are receiving targeted help in the form of larger wage subsidies and tax relief, as part of a second wave of measures aimed at helping businesses and workers cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The sectors were among those receiving a larger chunk of the support provided for in the bumper $48 billion Resilience Budget unveiled yesterday.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat told Parliament that $90 million will be set aside to help the tourism industry "rebound strongly, when the time is right", though he did not reveal details on how the funds would be used.
Wage subsidies will form the largest piece of the support for the affected sectors, with local workers in tourism and F&B having a bigger percentage of their salaries paid for by the Government under the enhanced Jobs Support Scheme.
Instead of the earlier announced 8 per cent, the scheme will now fund half of the first $4,600 of wages for local workers in the food services sector and 75 per cent of the first $4,600 for those in the tourism and aviation sectors.
It will also be extended to cover nine months instead of three.
Mr Heng also announced that commercial properties which have been more severely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, including hotels, tourist attractions, shops and eateries, will not have to pay any property tax this year.
A number of tourism grants, such as the Kickstart Fund and Business Improvement Fund, have also been beefed up with more support for qualifying costs.
Other measures in the supplementary budget include enhanced financing and training programmes, and a relief scheme that will provide eligible self-employed workers with $1,000 a month for nine months.
Businesses said the support is meaningful, particularly in light of stricter measures that will see bars and entertainment venues across the island shut for a month, starting today. This comes after Singapore shut its doors to all short-term visitors earlier this week amid a spike in imported cases.
Sentosa 4D AdventureLand executive director Kevin Cheong said he had to shut the 4D theatre component of his attraction today, while the simulated ride can remain operational under the new rules.
But with business already down by 95 per cent and half of his attraction now closed, he is considering suspending operations through April while paying his 20 staff full salaries. "The higher wage support is generous and accounts for the uncertainty of how long the situation will last," he said.
But Mr Beppe De Vito, chef-owner of the ilLido group of restaurants, expressed concern over the limitation of the wage offset to Singaporeans only. Across his five restaurants, 40 per cent of his staff are foreign workers.
Mr De Vito, who is a Singapore citizen, said: "It is expected that the Government does this to protect the citizens, but the reality is that we rely on a lot of foreigners in the industry. We are keeping positive, and hope it doesn't come to us letting people go."
Others called for landlords to pass on property tax savings to tenants.
Restaurant Association of Singapore president Vincent Tan said many are still waiting for landlords to come through with their promises of rental rebates.
Safe distancing measures, while necessary, have cut restaurants' capacity and further hurt business at eateries, which have seen revenues fall by 50 to 80 per cent, he said. "We hope that landlords will respond to the new measures with urgency."
