Budget 2020 Measures for Businesses Might Not Be Helpful ‘Coz The Support Comes Too Late

By
Shawn Ambrose
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It’s no surprise that businesses are suffering as a result of the Covid-19 situation.

People are avoiding crowded places to be safe, but that’s obviously bad news for businesses.

That’s why many business owners and stakeholders looked to the Budget 2020 as a source of hope.

Some, however, are disappointed with the added measures.

Budget Rebate for Businesses Might Not Be Helpful ‘Coz The Support Comes Too Late

As you know, the Budget statement was unveiled on Tuesday (18 Feb). And while you were too busy finding how much you were going to get for your cash payout, many businesses were hoping for some aid.

While businesses and stakeholders in the food services, retail, and tourism industry were somewhat pleased with the support measures announced, some felt that the initiatives were still not as targeted and immediate as they had hoped during this Covid-19 outbreak.

To bring you up to speed, here are some of the measures introduced to shore up businesses affected by the sharp drop in traffic and sales:

  • 30% property tax rebate to be granted this year to accommodation and function-room segments of licensed hotels and serviced apartments
  • Government to offset 8% of the wages for each Singaporean (and Singapore PR) employee, with the grant kicking in this July
  • The limit for the Wage Credit Scheme will be raised from S$4,000 to S$5,000 for qualifying wage increases given in the calendar years 2019 and 2020
  • For wage raises in 2019, the Government will co-fund 20% and in 2020, 15%. (These new wage measures apply only to Singaporean workers)

For sectors that are hit more severely, there would be special measures for each sector. For example, hawkers in NEA-managed hawkers will get one month free rental.

These incentives might sound helpful, but for some businesses, it might not come quickly enough.

Too late

One such example is Dr Kevin Cheong, the executive director of tourist attraction Sentosa 4D AdventureLand, which offers a 4D theme park ride.

Dr Cheong said he’s uncertain if his business will still be around by July since his business has been dropping steadily in the past weeks.

“My (earnings) have been down 50 per cent in these two weeks… I don’t know how long I can last. I don’t want to belittle the help and I am thankful, but I was hoping for something more helpful.

“I think only people who are hit like us will understand that the gravity of the issue is more than just a few percentage points when three-quarters of your business has gone overnight,” he said.

He added that if the wage support had been provided by March and April, then it would have been more helpful.

In other words, too late lah.

And he’s not the only one who’s dissatisfied with the measures.

For Mr Kliff Ang, director of tour agency Asia Travel Group, his main gripe is with the cash grant to offset the wages of Singapore employees. He believes that it would not be that helpful for companies that rely heavily on foreign workers.

“These industries, like the hotel industry, tap mostly foreign workers… so (whether or not the wage offset cash grant will be helpful) depends on the labour composition of the company.”

Speaking to TODAYonline, Mr Ang and other F&B owners hoped for measures such as the foreign worker levy waiver.

You may not have heard of this waiver, but that was introduced in the relief package during the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. These F&B business were disappointed that no such measure was announced in this year’s budget.

In addition to being too late, many F&B companies said that a few of the support schemes do not address some of their more pressing cash-flow concerns such as rental costs and wages for their foreign workers.

Hoped for Direct Rebates

What many hoped for instead were rental rebates.

While there have been measures (e.g. Government-managed hawker centres’ one month rental rebate), Mr Low Teck Seng, chairperson of the Tiong Bahru Hawker Association, said that this may not be enough if Covid-19’s outbreak continues to be active for a few more months.

Mr Low makes a good point; we’re expecting the Covid-19 outbreak to end soon, and while things seem to be getting better, it could be quite a while till the disease dies down. After all, hoarders have lots of instant noodles stuck in their homes.

And, if that’s the case, many businesses will continue to suffer.

Oh well, there’s always Budget 2021, right?

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]