New cost-of-living support measures, including up to S$200 cash for eligible Singaporeans and S$200 CDC vouchers

SINGAPORE: Eligible Singaporeans will receive an additional cash payout of up to S$200, while households will get S$200 more in Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers, as part of the government's latest effort to help people cope with rising prices.

The measures, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday (Sep 28), come under a new S$1.1 billion (US$800 million) cost-of-living support package to help Singaporean households, especially lower- to middle-income ones.

It builds on several enhancements to the Assurance Package that were announced last year and most recently during Budget 2023 in February.

With the addition of the new measures, eligible Singaporeans will receive up to S$800 in cash in December, while households will get a combined total of S$500 in CDC vouchers in 2024.

Other measures announced on Thursday include additional U-Save rebates to help households with the latest increase in carbon tax and water prices, along with subsidies and vouchers to ease the impact of public transport fare increases that were announced last week.

In a press release, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) noted that while inflation has come down from its peak, households in Singapore are still dealing with the impact of price increases in various areas.

The cost-of-living support package includes a S$0.8 billion enhancement to the Assurance Package, bringing the Assurance Package to over S$10 billion.

CASH, CDC VOUCHERS

Providing further details about the support measures, the Finance Ministry said about 2.5 million adult Singaporeans will receive an additional one-off sum of up to S$200 in cash in December, along with the existing component from the Assurance Package that was previously announced.

This is targeted at providing more support to lower- and middle-income adult Singaporeans, said the ministry.

For example, those with an assessable income of S$34,000 or below will receive up to S$200, on top of the existing S$600 that they will also get in December.

The cost-of-living special payment will be given to eligible Singaporeans who are 21 and above next year, have an annual assessable income of not more than S$100,000, and do not own more than one property.

Every Singaporean household will also get S$200 more in CDC vouchers next year, on top of what was announced in Budget 2023. This brings the total amount of vouchers to S$500.

The additional vouchers will be split equally – S$100 can be spent at participating heartland merchants and hawkers, while the other S$100 can be used at participating supermarkets such as NTUC FairPrice, Giant and Sheng Siong.

Households can claim the CDC vouchers from Jan 3, 2024, at go.gov.sg/cdcv. The vouchers will expire at the end of 2024.

S&CC REBATES, U-SAVE REBATES

As for rebates, 950,000 Singaporean households living in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats will get an additional one-off 0.5-month of service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebate.

This will be disbursed in January 2024 along with the regular S&CC debates.

MOF said that this will, on average, “fully offset” the S&CC increase in the first year of increases for one- to four-room HDB flats as well as about 85 per cent for larger HDB flats.

It was announced in June that residents in all 15 town councils run by the People’s Action Party (PAP) would have to pay more in S&CC. The first increase took effect in July while the second increase will kick in on Jul 1, 2024.

Furthermore, 950,000 Singaporean HDB households will receive an additional S$20 per quarter of U-save rebates from January 2024 to December 2025, or a total of S$80 per year for two years.

This is aimed at cushioning the impact of the increases in carbon tax and water prices in 2024 and 2025. These rebates will be disbursed together with the regular U-Save rebates.

MOF said that that additional rebates will, on average, fully offset the increase in utility bills for one- to two-room HDB flats; about 80 per cent of the increase in utility bills for three- to four-room HDB flats; and about 65 per cent of the increase in utility bills for larger flats.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT-RELATED MEASURES

Resident households with a monthly household income per person of not more than S$1,600 will be able to receive public transport vouchers worth S$50 each.

These vouchers will be disbursed from end-December and can be used to top up fare cards or buy monthly travel or concession passes.

The Public Transport Council announced last week that bus and train fares will more than double from last year's hike, which means adult commuters will pay 10 to 11 cents more per journey from Dec 23. 

The trend of sharper increases could potentially continue with the Public Transport Council again deferring a bulk of the fare adjustment quantum to future fare review exercises. 

On Thursday, MOF said the government will provide additional subsidies of about S$300 million in 2024 to cover the deferred fare adjustment quantum of 15.6 per cent that will be carried over to future fare review exercises.

“This additional subsidy helps to moderate the fare increase and pay for higher costs of providing public transport services due to the continued increase in energy prices in 2022, core inflation, and strong wage growth,” MOF added.

During a press conference, Mr Wong said the funds for these additional measures come from current provisions in this year's Budget.

"But down the road, we may need more, and then we will likely put in a supplementary Supply Bill in Budget 2024 to cover the gap," added Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister.

“I assure all Singaporeans that we will continue to be there for you and support you every step of the way. As long as we continue to be responsible for one another and keep a lookout for each other, we can overcome the challenges ahead and move forward together."