Singapore - Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam Thursday presented a 20.5-billion-Singapore-dollar (13.74-billion-US-dollar) budget for financial year 2009, focusing on preserving jobs and supporting businesses in the city state.

He said the budget, which he referred to as a resilience package, would help Singapore through the exceptionally difficult year ahead, but would not help it get out of the economic recession.

However, the budget, for fiscal year April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010, would help avert an even sharper downturn and the more lasting damage to the economy, the minister told parliament.

But this would leave Singapore with 8.7-billion-dollar budget deficit, the largest the city state has ever seen.

The government is also making a first-time withdrawal of 4.9 billion Singapore dollars from the national reserves to fund the recession-bearing measures.

The 20.5-billion-Singapore-dollar budget would preserve jobs for Singaporeans, stimulate bank lending, enhance business cash-flow, support families and households, and would increase infrastructure, education and health care spending.

Job Credit, a wage reimburse scheme for the employers which would encourage them to preserve jobs as much as possible in the current economic downturn, was among the measures and incentives to be introduced this year, he said.

Corporate tax for the year of assessment 2010 would be lowered to 17 per cent from the current 18 per cent, and a freeze of all government fees and charges would be implemented with immediate effect for this year, said the minister.

He has also announced 20-per-cent personal income tax and 40-per-cent property tax rebates for this year.

The government, he said, would be launching the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative to help viable companies get funding and keep jobs.

Shanmugaratnam said the Resilience Package would aim to save jobs to the maximum extent possible in the recession, and to help viable companies stay afloat.

"It also prepares Singapore to emerge with strength when the global economy recovers, and enhances our capabilities and competitiveness for the long term," he told the house.

Depending on how long and deep the recession turns out to be, the government was prepared to do more, he said.

The government had earlier this week projected a severe economic downturn for the city state, setting an economic growth rate of minus 2 per cent to minus 5 per cent for this year. (dpa)