• The Mandarin term “经济稳定与支援配套” is a paraphrase of the English term “Stabilisation and Support Package”.
• This package was introduced on 18 February 2020 by then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat as part of Budget 2020.
• The package formed part of the Unity Budget and was proposed to strengthen Singapore’s economy, mitigate the impacts on the market caused by the pandemic, and help Singaporeans through the employment and business crisis.
• The S$4 billion package was launched to support Singaporeans and enterprises through measures such as employment subsidies, wage subsidies, and tax subsidies.
• Specifically, the Stabilisation and Support Package aimed to:
  1. Safeguard jobs. For example, under the Jobs Support Scheme, enterprises received employment subsidies for three consecutive months, benefiting all local employees.
  2. Assist enterprises in cashflow. In addition to the Corporate Income Tax Rebate for all tax-paying enterprises, the Government would share up to 80% of the risk of working capital loans and provide funds to enterprises for renovation or maintenance.
  3. Assist enterprises in five main sectors (tourism, aviation, retail, F&B, and point-to-point transport services) to retain and train employees. The Government also extended the funding period of the Redeployment Programme for these enterprises.

At this stage, it is hard to say whether the S$4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package will be sufficient. (Lianhe Zaobao, 23/2/2020)

The Stabilisation and Support Package and the Care and Support Package were two special packages launched at the same time, with a total value of S$5.6 billion.