Survey Shows That 72% of Small Companies in S’pore Satisfied With Gov Relief Assistance

Just recently, the Singapore government announced more measures to help companies in Singapore tide over the Covid-19 pandemic.

Details can be read in the article (click post above) but basically, they’re extending the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) at a lower rate until March next year, and a Jobs Growth Scheme that sounds like it can be easily exploited.

Now, some experts are of the opinion that the JSS is limited in scope:

But apparently, most small companies in Singapore are happy with the help.

Survey Shows That 72% of Small Companies in S’pore Satisfied With Gov Relief Assistance

United Overseas Bank (UOB), Accenture and Dun & Bradstreet came out to conduct a survey which finds out exactly how happy small companies in Singapore are with the government’s help.

Or, as Jamus Lim would say, the efficacy of the government’s policies.

And here are their findings:

• Almost 3 in 4small companies are satisfied with the government’s financial assistance (72%)
• Singapore’s satisfaction is higher than the regional average of 58% (the satisfaction levels of companies outside Singapore in South-east Asia)
• The other two countries which reported higher than average satisfaction are Vietnam (68%) and Malaysia (61%).
• Top three relief wanted by respondents in Singapore are wage relief (48%), business transformation assistance (44%) and loan assistance (36%)

Not Surprising

Seeing what the top three relief measures wanted in Singapore are, you’re probably not that surprised at the overwhelmingly positive response.

For cash relief, there is the Jobs Support Scheme, the rebate on levies and giving rebates to landlords and forcing them to give rent waivers to their tenants.

In the latest announcement, they have also pledged to co-pay new Singaporean hire for firms who are looking to expand (wage relief + business transformation assistance).

In an effort to help businesses survive, the Singapore government heavily focused on digitalisation so that businesses can transform to survive.

A the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, banks were more willing to approve SME business loans because the government decided to co-share the risk (90%) of making loans to SME.

Basically, here’s what it means:

Supposedly you borrow $1,000 from a bank.

Then the bank comes asking for money but your company disappeared liao.

Instead of making a loss of $1,000, the bank can go to ah gong and ask for $900, so they only risk losing $100.

It’s more cheem than that lah, but this is the basic idea.

With lesser risks, banks are more willing to lend you money so more loans are approved.

It’s All About Cash-Flow

According to UOB, small businesses have two concerns: immediate cash-flow issues and future worries.

Most small businesses in Singapore tap on “immediate relief” to solve the cash-flow problem while looking for new ways to “future-proof” their business.

The survey was conducted across 5 countries in South-east Asia on 1,000 companies who have an annual turnover of lesser than $20 million.

It was added that not all the companies surveyed are UOB customers.