(April 2): Singapore will enhance support measures announced in the budget and bring some of them forward to provide earlier relief as the Middle East conflict strains energy supplies.
The government will provide targeted support for more severely affected sectors as well as rebates to help offset higher electricity bills, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in a video message on Thursday. His government will share details when Parliament sits next week.
“We are entering a more uncertain and unstable phase, with wide-ranging implications for regional security and global energy flows,” Wong said. “The risks are significant, and the worst may not yet be behind us.”
US President Donald Trump dashed optimism in a prime-time address that the conflict in the Middle East is nearing the end and that disruptions to energy flows will ease. Stocks and bonds fell on expectations that oil prices will stay higher.
Asia, including Singapore, gets a substantial amount of its energy supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Wong said. Energy prices are expected to remain elevated even if a ceasefire is reached, he added. The war has also disrupted supplies of fertilisers and helium, raising risks to food production, the premier said.
Wong convened a crisis ministerial committee to coordinate the city state’s response to the impact of the war. Singapore is working to secure alternative supplies from global producers and is deepening cooperation with countries including Australia, a major liquefued natural gas supplier, and New Zealand to safeguard supplies of energy, food and essential goods, Wong said.
See also: Much ado about nothing? Understanding Singapore’s high gross public debt
Singapore’s authorities are reviewing their economic forecasts and the central bank has said it will update its inflation outlook when it meets later this month.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
