Singaporean households can claim S$300 in CDC vouchers from Jan 2
More than 24,000 heartland merchants and hawkers have joined the CDC scheme, up from about 23,000 in 2025.
A CDC voucher sign at a bakery in Punggol Plaza on Jan 2, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
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SINGAPORE: Singaporean households can claim and use S$300 (US$233) in Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers from Friday (Jan 2).
The vouchers, aimed at helping households manage cost-of-living challenges, will be divided equally for spending: S$150 at heartland merchants and hawkers, and S$150 at participating supermarkets.
As with previous rounds, one member of each Singaporean household can visit go.gov.sg/cdcv and log in with their Singpass to claim the digital vouchers.
Once claimed, an SMS from gov.sg will be sent to the registered mobile number, containing a unique voucher link that can be shared among household members. The vouchers are valid until Dec 31, 2026.
Announcing the launch of the vouchers at Punggol 21 Community Club on Friday morning, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said that more than 24,000 heartland merchants and hawkers are on board the CDC Vouchers Scheme.
This is up from about 23,000 merchants that participated in 2025.
Eight supermarket chains are also part of the scheme. The participating supermarkets are Ang Mo Supermarket, Cold Storage, Giant Singapore, HAO Mart, NTUC FairPrice, Prime Supermarket, Sheng Siong and U Stars Supermarket.
Mr Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, said in his speech that while advance estimates show that Singapore's economy grew by 4.8 per cent in 2025, challenges lie ahead.
These include supply chains being reshaped, trade policies becoming more fragmented, technology such as artificial intelligence transforming businesses and jobs, and growth that is likely to be more uneven and uncertain, he said.
"The CDC Vouchers provide immediate assurance and practical support, while the ESR (Economic Strategy Review) lays the groundwork for the future. Both go hand in hand,” said Mr Gan, who chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce.
The Economic Strategy Review was launched in August 2025 to chart an economic blueprint to keep the country globally competitive in the long term.
This tranche of vouchers was announced at Budget 2025, when Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that every Singaporean household would get S$800 in CDC vouchers to help offset rising costs.
The first S$500 in vouchers was disbursed in May 2025. In July, all Singaporean Citizens above 21 also received S$600 in SG60 Vouchers, while seniors above 60 received S$200 more.
Speaking at the launch, Mayor of the South West District Low Yen Ling said heartland merchants in the food sector remain a key focus of the CDC Voucher Scheme.
Over half of the 24,000 participating hawkers and heartland merchants are from the F&B sector, said the Senior Minister for State for Culture, Community and Youth, and Trade and Industry.
CDC vouchers have an average claim rate of more than 97.7 per cent across the past seven tranches in the last four years, she added.
More than 1.3 million Singaporean households have claimed the previous tranche of CDC vouchers issued in May, representing a claim rate of 98.1 per cent, she added.
As of Dec 31, households spent more than S$652 million of these vouchers. Out of this, about S$325 million was spent at participating hawkers and heartland merchants, and the remaining S$327 million was spent at participating supermarkets.
Overall, households have spent nearly S$4 billion through the past seven tranches of CDC Vouchers and SG60 vouchers. Of this, around S$2.13 billion was spent through CDC vouchers since the nationwide launch of the scheme in December 2021.
ASSISTANCE FOR RESIDENTS
Notification letters will not be issued for this eighth tranche of the CDC Vouchers Scheme.
Instead, information on the claiming process will be available through digital platforms, social media, newspaper advertisements and community posters.
From Jan 2 to 15, SG Digital Office’s Digital Ambassadors and Silver Infocomm Wellness Ambassadors will be present at selected Community Centres and SG Digital Community Hubs to guide residents.
In the first week of the launch, over 500 volunteers from institutions such as the Institute of Technical Education, St Andrew’s Junior College, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Management University will also be deployed at high-traffic community centres. They will work alongside CDC ambassadors to help residents with the claiming process.
The People's Association (PA) and CDC said that members of the public should exercise caution when claiming the CDC vouchers.
Claiming CDC vouchers does not require residents to disclose any bank log-in details, transfer money, or install mobile applications from unofficial app stores.
Those who receive any suspicious messages related to gov.sg or CDC Vouchers should contact PA at 6225 5322.
The CDC Vouchers Donation Scheme is open until Jan 31, 2026 for households that wish to donate their unused vouchers to participating Institutions of a Public Character.
HOW CDC VOUCHERS HAVE HELPED
Ms Nurul Syakirah Binti Ishak, a Tampines resident, said the CDC vouchers have provided a "financial cushion" for herself and her parents in helping them with grocery costs.
"I hope to see that CDC vouchers will be something that is sustainable and will be able to prolong in the coming years, because it's not only supporting residents, like myself, but also the local merchants and local businesses," said the 25-year-old, who is also a CDC ambassador.
Mr Joe Chen, the general manager of Ai Muay Group, which manages six wet markets and a wholesale centre, has also reaped the benefits of the scheme. Since the wet markets started accepting CDC vouchers in 2022, they have seen a 30 per cent increase in traffic flow.
Initially, there was some inertia towards adopting a new payment method. To address this, one manager was allocated to each market to guide tenants on how to use the CDC vouchers.
Still, Mr Chen said he hopes to see a separate category of vouchers for wet markets.
More people, especially the younger generation, are eating out and using food delivery. This translates to fewer people buying from wet markets, he said.
"And now with various prices going up, having one specific CDC component for wet markets especially, will actually help the wet market operators to actually survive and even thrive in these turbulent times," he said.
Asked whether the CDC will relook the eligibility criteria for participating merchants after some retailers raised concerns about being excluded from the scheme, Ms Low said they take a "very balanced approach" and are on the ground to ensure that heartland shops are onboarded to meet the needs of Singaporeans.
"I wanted to stress that we are paying a lot of attention in new HDB (Housing Development Board) estates to ensure that when the shops are opened, we take a proactive approach to evaluate whether the products and services are in line with the policy intent of supporting our residents in their everyday needs," she said.
