SINGAPORE: About 1.5 million Singaporeans will receive up to S$300 cash in a special GST Voucher payment in August, announced Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong on Tuesday (Jun 21).
This is on top of the regular GSTV-Cash amounts they were meant to receive in 2022.
This will benefit about 1.5 million lower-income to middle-income workers, as well as retirees without income, said Mr Wong, who is also Deputy Prime Minister.
Taken together, GSTV-Cash recipients will receive up to S$700 in August this year, he noted.
All Singaporean households will also receive a S$100 utilities credit by September to help offset their bills, announced Mr Wong.
“In the Budget, I’ve already provided a fair amount of U-Save rebates for those living in HDB flats, with more given to those living in smaller flats. So this time, I will provide a one-off S$100 household utilities credit to all Singaporean households, including those living in private property.”
Responding to a question about why a tiered system based on property size was not implemented instead, Mr Wong said the U-Save rebates system is “effectively” a tiered system.
“Those living in private property will get a one-off rebate. But if for example you are living in a three-room or four-room HDB flat, you will get many more months of rebates effectively, if you count all the rebates that have been given in the Budget.”
At the 2022 Budget in February, Mr Wong had announced that the Government would add S$640 million to the S$6 billion Assurance Package.
The enhanced Assurance Package, announced in 2020, is meant to cover at least five years of additional GST expenses for the majority of Singaporean households, and about 10 years for lower-income households, Mr Wong said at the time.
INFLATION, SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION
Since the announcements were made, the global growth and inflation environment has proven to be “more challenging”, said Mr Wong.
“The Ukraine war has put tremendous stressors on global supply chains, and protectionist measures by countries have compounded supply chain disruptions,” he added.
“Global energy and food prices have risen sharply and we must expect global inflation to broaden to other areas and even to pick up further before it stabilises and gets better.”
Singapore is in a “stronger position” to deal with these economic challenges compared to other countries, said Mr Wong.
“Nevertheless, as a small and open economy, we have not been spared from the effects of higher prices. And indeed, over the last few months we’ve seen prices going up steadily, especially for energy and food,” he added.
“The inflation situation will eventually stabilise both globally and within Singapore. But for now, we must expect price increases to continue in the coming months. And in particular, energy prices are likely to remain elevated for the rest of the year.”