Medium-sized public projects now on hold will be restarted to help smaller contractors

The government of Singapore may bring forward more than £3bn of deferred construction projects to kick-start the ailing economy.

Minister for national development Mah Bow Tan told local reporters that medium-sized public projects that had previously been put on hold may be revived to help smaller contractors.

He told the Straits Times: “We're in the process of re-looking at these projects and seeing how we can bring forward some of these deferred projects. This is an exercise that's ongoing at the moment.”

Details of the chosen projects will be released early in the new year. Schemes that have been halted in the past 12 months include an extension to the Changi prison, a national art gallery and the Jurong general hospital.

The minister also said that plans are under way to encourage banks to help contractors through periods of tight credit.