Singapore lawmaker says FTAs should continue despite COVID-19 induced recession

Singapore must continue its global integration underpinned by free trade agreements FTA and Digital Economy Agreements (DEA) with its trading partners, country’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations has said. S. Iswaran, who made a virtual address to members of Singapore Business Federation (SBF), stressed that free trade pacts must go on despite the threat of recession looming large on the COVID-19 hit economy. In fact, he added that more FTAs and DEAs would, in turn, help firms grow and enhance employment opportunities for Singaporeans.

"Obviously, we are in a challenging economic environment, and how we emerge from this is going to depend critically on the manner of our response. That is true for countries and for the global economy," the Minister added.

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Economy on path of recovery

Singapore, which was under “circuit breaker” lockdown from April 7 to June 1, recently saw a surge in the economy. Following massive, job losses and business shutdowns, the economy was finally seen as expanding in the third quarter of the year, Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on October 14. According to ANI, the island nation's GDP rose 7.9 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis in the July to September quarter.

This comes as Singapore's economy tumbled by a 13.2 per cent in the second quarter, which included the circuit breaker period when business activity and personal movement were halted to curb the spread of the coronavirus. On a yearly basis, the plunge was recorded at seven per cent, a significant improvement from the 13.3 per cent fall in Q2.

As per the official data, the county’s economy shrank by 6.7 per cent in the first half of the year. Therefore, to support those hit by the pandemic induced job loss, the government, earlier this year, said that Jobs Support Scheme(JSS) would be extended by seven months to cover wages paid up to March 2021. The scheme was set to expire on August 31.

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Image: AP