Singapore would not return to the open and connected global economy that existed before the nation went into a partial lockdown two months ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said.
Singaporeans will have to prepare for a different, admittedly tougher future with rising unemployment as companies work to cope with slowing demand and movement restrictions from various governments, Lee said in a televised address on Sunday.
It was the first in a string of speeches to be delivered by five more ministers in the next two weeks as the nation draws closer to general elections.
The city state has benefited from an open global economy, serving as a hub for trade, investment and the financial market, Lee said.
“Countries will have less stake in each other’s well-being,” he said. “They will fight more over how the pie is shared, rather than work together to enlarge the pie for all. It will be a less prosperous world and also a more troubled one.”
Singapore is spending S$93 billion (US$66.7 billion), or 20 percent of its GDP, as part of its economic response, helping workers stay in their jobs as well as supporting businesses and their employees to cope with the fallout from the virus.
Lee said that while the country is able to draw on its reserves and does not have to pay for its support measures by borrowing, this level of spending is hard to sustain “even for us.”
The economy is expected to post its biggest contraction since its independence more than 50 years ago.
The travel industry, such as airlines and hotels, will likely take a long time to recover from the pandemic as health checks and quarantines will become the norm in the future, Lee said.
The disease could remain a problem, as vaccines are unlikely to be widely available for at least a year, he said.
The prime minister referred to jobs as “the government’s biggest priority,” warning that the labor market is likely to change and that many businesses would be hit hard.
In the meantime, he said that Singapore is working to retain and attract talent and investments to contribute to its recovery.
“At a time when some countries are closing their doors, we are keeping ours open,” he said.
The number of unemployed residents in Singapore might rise above 100,000 this year from about 73,000 last year due to the impact of the pandemic, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat (王瑞傑) said last week.
This is more than Singapore’s highest annual average number of 91,000 unemployed residents that was registered during the 2003 SARS epidemic, Heng said.
Lee’s speech came with the nation to hold a general election by April next year, although there are signs they could happen before then.
Last month, Heng told local media that the sooner the election is held, the sooner its citizens can rally to deal with long-term issues and uncertainties that face the country.
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