Recovery in global economic activity could be positive for Singapore stocks

After climbing a wall of worry, are global stocks now poised at the top of a proverbial slope of hope?

Ben Paul

Published Sun, Jun 28, 2020 · 09:50 PM

AT THE beginning of the year, widespread expectation that elections would soon be called had many people expecting the Singapore government to roll out a generous Budget.

Then came Covid-19 and the most frightening collapse in economic activity that any of us had ever seen.

In response, the government pulled out all the stops. The aptly-named Unity budget, along with the three supplementary budgets that followed it - dubbed Resilience, Solidarity and Fortitude - set aside nearly S$93 billion to support the country through this unprecedented crisis.

Not bad for an election-year budget.

Singapore wasn't alone in digging deep into its pockets, but it was among the most aggressive in the region. The support measures it introduced were equivalent to about 19.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). According to a report by Morgan Stanley, Asian nations (excluding Ja…