SINGAPORE - The Covid-19 pandemic took its toll on firms across the board and the Jobs Support Scheme's (JSS) main priority was to ensure that all of them received timely support, Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said on Friday (Feb 26). The JSS was thus rolled out as a "broad-based scheme without the need for onerous applications", which especially helped small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he told Parliament during the debate on ministries' budgets. Mr Wong said that the scheme was introduced at the start of the crisis, when the public health and economic situation was highly fluid. Firms were also facing immediate cash flow issues, said Mr Wong who was responding to a question from MP Foo Mee Har (West Coast GRC) on how the Government prioritised assistance during the pandemic , and why the JSS was provided across the board.