Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has assured Singaporeans that "no one will be left be behind" as the nation faces "the crisis of our generation".

After Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat unveiled the Fortitude Budget on May 26, PM Lee said that the priority would be "saving and creating jobs".

Financial support

The unprecedented fourth budget of the financial year will allocate S$33 billion in financial support to helping businesses, workers and households.

Together with the three preceding budgets announced earlier in the year, close to S$100 billion of support measures will be dished out.

"We will help businesses adapt and transform, create new jobs, and provide more training opportunities to workers. We will also support frontline agencies, households and communities, and help the needy and vulnerable," said PM Lee.

"No one will be left behind."

Drawing from older generations

He reserved gratitude for Singapore's Pioneer Generation — the moniker given to those born in or before 1949 and obtained citizenship before the end of 1986 — for their "sacrifices and stewardship" as well as the "fiscal prudence and discipline" of previous governments.

This, he said, had built up the nation's reserves, which Heng will be drawing from for the Fortitude Budget, and put Singapore in a strong position to overcome the crisis and even "emerge stronger after the pandemic".

"Crisis of our generation"

The prime minister, in keeping with the nod to Singapore's past, also likened the Covid-19 pandemic to the nation's infancy, drawing parallels to the "uncertain future" that faced the nation's founding fathers after the British suddenly "decided to pull out".

"Our founding fathers were determined to secure the lives and livelihoods of our people," he wrote.

"We must have that same conviction today, as we deal with the crisis of our generation."

This crisis, he acknowledged, would likely see the economy shrink by between 4 to 7 per cent -- "our worst recession since independence," PM Lee wrote.

Looking ahead to the end of circuit breaker measures on Jun. 1, PM Lee said he had thus far been "inspired" by the stories of people helping others and the sacrifices of frontline workers.

"Like our founding generation, we have the chance to chart bold new ways, and build a new Singapore. Let us stay united as we forge ahead together."

Top image from Lee Hsien Loong's Facebook page