Singapore's Budget 2022 Support Initiatives for Businesses (Part 2)

(This blog is a continuation of our previous blog post on Budget 2022 here)

The Singapore Budget 2022 event also highlighted the different ways to achieve the goal of maintaining the economy of Singapore's vibrant and competitive affected by the blunt of COVID-19 pandemic. It includes investment through human capital, innovation, loan and financing, sustainability, and support for business recovery. These will be discussed briefly below.

Human Capital 

An enhanced version of Skills Future Enterprise Credit (SFEC) will be made available to help employers venture into enterprise and workforce transformation. Adjustment has been made on the eligibility criteria for this financial scheme. Qualified employers are set to be informed in April 2022 while the deadline for claiming credits has been extended until 30 Jun 2024. 

Relevant information about this program is available through this link.

Innovation

The development of new innovations promises growth towards the economy of Singapore . Specifically, this aims to:

• To provide more support to local SMEs undertaking R&D and innovation activities
• Manpower resourcing to suitable centers within the Polytechnics and ITEs will be increased to enable these centers to undertake more innovation projects with SMEs

Loan and Financing

To satisfy the financial needs of businesses, a set of loan and financing options will be made available for them. These include the Enterprise Financing Scheme – Merger & Acquisitions (M&A), Enterprise Financing Scheme – Project Loan, Enterprise Financing Scheme – Trade Loan, and Temporary Bridging Loan Programme. The details of each financing option is provided below. 

Enterprise Financing Scheme – Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) will expand to including M&A activities such as venturing into complementary businesses and emerging sectors: 

• To allow enterprises to scale and expand through M&A and venture into complementary businesses and emerging sectors
• Scheme will be enhanced for four years from 1 Apr 2022 to 31 Mar 2026 to include domestic M&A activities

Check out this link for relevant information regarding this financial scheme. 

Enterprise Financing Scheme – Project Loan  aims to assist local businesses involved in the construction enterprises leading to the accomplishment of their domestic projects. 

This project supports the enterprises in terms of: 

• Working Capital Loan
• Factory/ Building/ Land (includes Purchase/ Renovation/ Construction)
• Equipment/ Machineries/ Vessels/ Other Fixed Assets/ Machinery Hire Purchase
• Guarantees

Enterprise Financing Scheme - Trade Loan - pushes assistance for enterprises dealing with trade financing whether domestic or overseas-based. As announced, this scheme will be extended until 30 September 2022. Support will be provided through these:

• Inventory / stock financing
• Structured pre-delivery working capital (revolving working capital)
• Factoring (with recourse) / bill of invoice / AR discounting
• Overseas working capital loan
• Bank Guarantee (capped at 2 years tenure)

Temporary Bridging Loan Programme - provides assistance to businesses for their working capital needs. Detailed information can be found through the link above. 

Sustainability

Enterprise Sustainability Programme (ESP) supports initiatives tackling sustainability efforts and programs in line with Singapore's Green Economy Strategy in mind. The support comes in forms of workshops and training which will help accelerate the sustainability goals of Singapore. 

Relevant information about ESP is provided in the link above.

Support for Business Recovery

Small Business Recovery Grant - supports financial support to businesses whose operations were bogged down by COVID-19 pandemic. 

To qualify, the business must meet the the following criteria:

• Firm must be a 'live' business entity physically present in Singapore and registered no later than 31 Dec 2021;
• Firm must have an annual operating revenue of under S$100 million filed with IRAS in the Year of Assessment 2021 by 31 Dec 2021 or employ fewer than 200 employees as of 31 Dec 2021; and
• Firm must be in one of the sectors listed in the table in this document

Additional information can be obtained from the website provided. 

If your business is considering into securing grants, Real Inbound Consulting (RIC) would love to help you. Helpful blogs or information sheet to guide you on which grant to apply for is also available on our website. 

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