S’pore unveils US$4.5bil package to tackle virus outbreak

The schemes involve an S$800mil package to fight and contain the disease, mainly through additional healthcare funding, and a further S$5.6bil in measures to help manage its impact on businesses, jobs and living costs.

SINGAPORE: Singapore announced financial packages worth around US$4.5bil to help contain the coronavirus outbreak in the city-state and weather its economic impact.

Delivering his annual budget speech, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat also said a planned hike in the goods and services tax would not take place in 2021 given the current state of the economy which recorded its lowest growth in a decade last year.