Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob took to Facebook on Monday (2 November) to announce that she has approved the Third Supplementary Supply and Budget Adjustments Bill this morning.
The supplementary bill, which was introduced by Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah in Parliament last month, is to reallocate resources for more Government support measures amid the COVID-19 crisis.
“I beg to introduce a Bill…an Act to make supplementary provision out of the consolidated fund to meet additional expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, and to reduce certain appropriations for that financial year due to exigencies,” Ms Indranee said while speaking in Parliament on 14 October.
In Madam Halimah’s post, she said: “This morning, I assented to the Third Supplementary Supply and Budget Adjustments Bill, which re-prioritises resources to continue support for areas which are severely affected by COVID-19, and support for workers through the Jobs Support Scheme and Workfare Special Payment”.
She added, “It authorises a re-allocation of expenditure from areas with reduced spending, such as disruption to development projects due to COVID-19”.
Additionally, the country’s President also assured that the support that is being given this time around does not draw more from Singapore’s Past Reserves.
“The Bill also includes some revenue foregone, but it does not result in a further draw on our Past Reserves beyond what I had given in-principle support for in March and May 2020.”
President Halimah also went on to highlight that Singapore is still in the midst of battling with the pandemic, and hoped that the “Government will continue its focus on supporting our people and businesses through these turbulent times”.
