$1.5b package to help S'poreans cope with inflation; 2.5m people to get up to $500 in cash
A new $1.5 billion support package will give Singaporean households additional help to deal with rising prices, with more aid going to lower to middle-income groups, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Friday.
Some 2.5 million eligible adult Singaporeans will receive a special cost-of-living payment of up to $500 in December, as part of the package.
They will get the payment together with the GST Assurance Package cash payout that was announced at Budget 2022 to offset the impact of the upcoming one percentage point hike in Goods and Service Tax from 7 to 8 per cent on January 1, 2023.
Mr Wong said the latest measures have been designed with two groups of Singaporeans in mind, who have been affected by higher inflation - lower-income Singaporeans and elderly retirees with no income from work.
The latest support package, together with earlier measures announced at the Budget as well as in April and June 2022, will fully cover the increase in cost of living for lower-income households on average, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
The package will also fully cover more than half of the increase in cost of living for middle-income households on average this year, the ministry added.
Full year inflation for 2022 is expected to come in at 6 per cent, Mr Wong said.
The package comes as earlier on Friday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said core inflation has risen more than expected, with the July to August average at 4.9 per cent year on year, up from 3.8 per cent in the second quarter.
There is also considerable uncertainty around the outlook for both inflation and growth, with core inflation set to remain high in the first half of 2023.
MOF also said that every Singaporean household will get additional Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers worth $100 next January. This means that together with the $200 CDC vouchers announced during the Budget this year, a total of $300 of such vouchers will be given out then.
More support will also be given to help people deal with rising transport costs.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Government will provide an additional subsidy of about $200 million to cover the 10.6 per cent fare increase that will be carried over to future fare review exercises.
"This additional subsidy helps to mitigate the impact of the fare increase on commuters and pay for higher costs of providing public transport services due to the increase in energy prices, manpower costs and inflation," said MOF.
Additionally, 600,000 public transport vouchers worth $30 each will be given to eligible Singaporean households, which can be used to top up fare cards or buy public transport concession passes.
The Ministry of Education will also increase the income eligibility thresholds for financial assistance schemes to defray school expenses for more students from January 2023.
It will also enhance the bursary quantum for full-time Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students.
MOF said there will be no draw on past reserves for the new support package. It will be funded by the better-than-expected fiscal out-turn in the first half of this financial year, which began in April.
The ministry added that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was milder than expected, enabling more sectors of the economy to open up in tandem, boosting the nation's economic recovery.
The support package comes amid rising inflation, it noted. While supply chain frictions have eased slightly, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions continue to put pressure on the prices of goods and services.
"As a small, open economy, Singapore is particularly susceptible to imported price pressures, through channels such as food and energy. Domestically, a tight labour market continues to support strong wage growth," said MOF.
"As such, we must be prepared for inflation to stay elevated for some time."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
