Economy after the pandemic Provide state loan to unemployed workers
Many countries have a system to provide a benefit to an unemployed person for a certain period of time.

I prefer that the state provide an unemployment loan, rather than unemployment benefit. Each unemployed person is allowed to take a loan from the government but the loan has to be paid back in the future.

The amount of the loan should be set at a subsistence level for the unemployed person. It can be higher for a person with dependents. 

A benefit is an entitlement that does not need to be paid back.

Some borrowers cannot pay back the loan. In that case, it will have to be written off.

In the case of Singapore, an alternative is to allow the unemployed person to withdraw Central Provident Fund savings but does not need to be paid back. 

This approach can be adopted during the covid pandemic and can be retained as part of the economic system after the pandemic.

Tan Kin Lian

 

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