Jobs Credit Scheme to be Extended for 6 Months with 2 Reduced Payouts

1. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced this morning at the NTUC Ordinary Delegates Conference that the Government will extend the Jobs Credit Scheme (JCS) for six months by providing another two, stepped-down payouts in March and June 2010. The two additional payments will cost $675 million and be funded from the Government’s budget.

2. The JCS was part of the Resilience Package in Budget 2009, introduced in response to a global economic crisis of unprecedented scale. It has helped to ease companies’ operating costs and avoid large lay-offs of workers in the crisis. As PM Lee explained in his speech, with the economy now having stabilised it is timely to phase out the JCS and adopt more targeted measures to support economic restructuring and enhance productivity. Budget 2010 will introduce and enhance programmes to support companies’ efforts to grow, innovate and compete based on improved productivity.

3. The JCS is currently calculated based on 12% of salary (based on the first $2500) of each eligible employee. The two additional Jobs Credits in 2010 will be at stepped down rates as follows:

a. March 2010 payment - 6% of salary of employees on the payroll in January 2010.
b. June 2010 payment - 3% of salary of employees on the payroll in April 2010.
All other eligibility criteria remain the same*. The extension of the Jobs Credit Scheme will cost Government $675 million.

4. The Jobs Credit Scheme this year was funded from past reserves, with the President’s consent. The global economic situation and outlook no longer pose grave risk to our economy and society. The Government has therefore decided to fund the additional two payments of Jobs Credit in 2010 from the regular budget instead of past reserves.

5. For more information on the Jobs Credit, visit www.iras.gov.sg or call 1800 356 4055.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
13 October 2009

* Both payments will be based on unchanged criteria - i.e. they will apply to the first $2500 of salary of employees on the employers’ CPF payroll at the stated times.