Singapore’s Ministry of Finance on Thursday announced that “eligible” Singaporeans will receive cash from June 18 as part of the the Care and Support Package.
“Those eligible will receive cash payments of S$300 or S$600 via PayNow on June 18”, the Ministry said.
Citizens who do not have PayNow linked to their NRIC by June 11 but have previously provided their bank account details for receiving Government payouts will receive the cash on June 25 via direct bank crediting, with the rest receiving the payments via cheque between Jun 30 and Jul 9.
In addition, parents with at least one Singaporean child aged 20 and below in 2020 will each receive an extra S$300.
Singaporeans aged 50 and above in 2020 will each receive an extra S$100 cash, in place of the earlier announced PAssion Card top-up.
“As part of the Unity and Resilience Budgets, the Care and Support Package helps provide more assurance and support to over 2.8 million Singaporeans who may be concerned about household expenses during this period of economic uncertainty,” said MOF.
In February, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the package, noting that many families are facing greater pressures due to the economic slowdown and the uncertainties of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In total, eligible Singaporeans will receive S$900, S$600 or S$300 this year depending on their assessable income for 2019. In April, S$300 was paid as part of the S$600 Solidarity Payment.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Heng said that he hoped the move would alleviate expenditure concerns of families.
Heng, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said that those who wish to donate their cash payouts can do so at Giving.sg, as some have done with their Solidarity Payments.
On Thursday, Parliament will debate the Fortitude Budget, a new S$33 billion Budget focused on providing jobs and helping to tide workers and businesses through the “difficult period” of COVID-19.