Tax jab against the novel coronavirus

THE ink on the finance minister's Budget 2020 statement would likely be moist when he delivers the speech next Tuesday, as measures to manage the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) situation in Singapore are continually refined to help businesses and Singaporeans tide over this difficult period.

Some of these measures may be retrieved from the 2003 playbook. That was the year when Singapore was affected by an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). As recently stated by Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, help will be …