As importantly, they have typically involved fiscal and monetary policies acting in tandem to cushion the effects of the crisis on jobs and incomes. The first line of defence against the crisis has come from fiscal policy. Fiscal tools act directly on the source of the problems caused by the Covid crisis – cash-flow shortfalls for companies and jobs risks for workers. 18  For example, Barro, Ursúa and Weng (2020). 17  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  17  To those ends, a wide variety of fiscal measures have been put in place over recent months, including job support schemes, tax rebates and holidays, grants to certain sectors and loan guarantee programmes.19  For the major economies, these programmes has been as large as any since the Great Depression, often double-digit percentages of GDP (Chart 15). Additional support will come from the automatic stabilisers built into tax and spending rules. All in, the IMF estimate that announced fiscal stimulus measures from the Covid crisis are near $ trillion globally, equivalent to around 8% of world GDP in 2019.
There are no secrets to the strategies, because the factors for success are not unique to Singapore. The challenge is in their execution and implementation. Here are five things that we have set out to do in order to excel as a financial centre in the New Economy. Enhance business environment First, we are seeking to further enhance our conducive pro-business environment. Economic and political stability, an efficient and impartial legal system, comprehensive and up-to-date market infrastructure, and fiscal discipline that allows low taxes are key preconditions, more important than special incentives for the financial sector. Singapore has established a reputation for delivering these preconditions, which we will maintain and improve upon in future. Build talent pool Second, we are building up our talent pool. In a knowledge-intensive industry like financial services, Singapore will not get anywhere without world-class talent. We are making a concerted effort to attract foreign talent who can make a contribution to Singapore, and to integrate them into our economy and society. We are also nurturing home talent to its full potential through a good education system for the young and ongoing training opportunities for those in the workforce. As Asian companies begin to use more complex strategies and products, our financial institutions need the expertise to advise on these sophisticated techniques. From time to time they will fly out experts from London or New York to service clients, but we must also build up our own indigenous capabilities.