Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the government's $20.5 billion Resilience Package at today's Budget speech in Parliament.

He said that Singapore was likely to experience the deepest recession since independence, arising from the worst global economic decline in 60 years.

The Resilience Package has three major aims: to save jobs to maximum possible extent, to help viable companies stay afloat, and to prepare Singapore to return with strength.

The Package has five main components:

1) Jobs for Singaporeans: $5.1 billion to preserve jobs
2) Stimulating bank lending : extend $5.8 billion government capital for risk sharing initiative (SRI). Some are to be used for provisions of losses.
3) Enhance business cash flow & competitiveness : $2.6 billion
4) Supporting families : $2.6 billion
5) Building a home for the future : $4.4 billion

Click on the links above for the full report.