The Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have unveiled new measures to help real estate investment trusts tackle the coronavirus.
The measures are provided for real estate investment trusts listed on the Singapore Exchange (S-REITs) and are designed to give them more flexibility to manage their cash flows and raise funds amid a challenging operating environment due to COVID-19.
These measures include an extension of the deadline for distribution of taxable income by MOF and IRAS from three to 12 months. The goal of this is so that S-REITs will be able to leverage the flexibility provided to secure their cash flows.
Moreover, MAS will raise with immediate effect the leverage limit for S-REITs from 45% to 50%, to provide S-REITs greater flexibility to manage their capital structure amid the challenging environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, MAS will defer to January 1 2022 the implementation of a new minimum interest coverage ratio (ICR) requirement.
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