Each household with least one Singapore citizen will receive a one-off S$100 Solidarity Utilities Credit, announced Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat in Parliament on Tuesday (May 26).

The measure is part of the Fortitude Budget, the fourth budget of the year, and is meant to thank all Singaporeans for doing their part and staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On top of past U-Save rebates

Previously in the Unity Budget, Heng had announced that the U-Save rebate, which helps to offset utilities cost under the annual GST voucher, would be doubled this year, through a one-off GST voucher.

This was to help eligible HDB households with utilities bills.

For larger households consisting of five or more members, an additional GST voucher, U-Save rebate, would be provided to help them with utilities bills.

In his Fortitude Budget speech, Heng announced that, to thank Singaporeans for "doing our part in staying home for Singapore", the government would be providing a one-off S$100 Solidarity Utilities Credit to each household that has at least one Singapore citizen.

The Solidarity Utilities Credit will cover all property types, and will be credited in either the July or August utilities bill.

Previous one-off Solidarity Payment

The Solidarity Budget announced on Apr. 6, the third of the four budgets, aimed to save jobs and protect the livelihoods of Singaporeans during the period of heightened Covid-19 measures.

Part of the budget went toward providing direct cash-in-hand for households, in the form of a S$600 Solidarity Payment.

Heng had announced in the previous Resilience Budget that every Singaporean aged 21 and above would receive a Care and Support cash payout of S$300, S$600, or S$900, depending on their income, which was supposed to be disbursed to eligible citizens from end-August 2020.

In the Solidarity Budget, he announced that S$300 from this Care and Support cash payout would be brought forward to Apr. 14, and that the government will provide an additional S$300 for all Singaporeans aged 21 and above.

This meant that eligible Singaporeans received a payout of S$600, either credited into their bank accounts by Apr. 14 or through a cheque.

Top photo via Pexels.