Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced plans for the government to spend $11 billion to help households and businesses hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic, as the Southeast Asian country grapples with its worst economic contraction since it became independent in 1965.
Singapore’s fiscally prudent budget targeting just a few sectors of the country’s pandemic-hit economy for support will do little to significantly boost the country’s lagging stock market — although some sectors like aviation and green energy are set to benefit, say analysts.
The benchmark Straits Times Index, among Asia’s worst performing gauges last year, closed near the day’s low on Feb 16. It ended 0.1% higher after paring an earlier advance of as much as 0.5%. Among budget winners, aviation stocks largely held their gains while property stocks, a key component of the benchmark, gave up their intraday advance and dropped.
