Budget 2020: ‘Encouraging efforts made by Singaporeans to acquire new skills’

During the reading of the Budget 2020, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced he is very encouraged by the efforts made by Singaporeans to acquire new skills and plans to invest in the Next Bound of SkillsFuture.

As such, he announced SkillsFuture Credit top-up of S$500 for every Singaporean aged 25 years and above.

DPM Heng said that the top-up will be available for use from Oct 1.

Unlike the earlier S$500 credit which had no expiry date, this top-up will expire in about five years, by end-2025.

In order to help employers, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, at S$10,000 per enterprise, will benefit over 35,000 enterprises, most of which will be SMEs. Employers can use this enterprise credit to defray 90 per cent of out-of-pocket costs of business transformation, job redesign, and skills training.

Funding will also be recalibrated towards training providers and courses with a stronger link to job and wage outcomes. /TISG