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All Singaporean households will receive a S$100 rebate on utilities to help counter inflation as part of a S$1.5 billion support package, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Tuesday (Jun. 21).

This rebate will be given out to all Singaporean households, including those in private properties, CNA reported.

Global inflation expected to remain high

Wong said the support package is mainly targeted at lower-income families and vulnerable groups to help them tide over this period of high global inflation, The Straits Times reported.

Singapore's core inflation has risen from 3.3 per cent year-on-year in April, after reaching a 10-year high of 2.9 per cent in March this year, according to CNA.

The rising inflation is caused by supply chain disruptions brought on by the ongoing war in Ukraine and Covid-19 restrictions in parts of the world which has resulted in higher energy and food prices.

Wong said in the press conference that global inflation will likely remain high for a while, and may even increase further before it eventually stabilises and get better.

"But for now we must expected price increases to continue in the coming months," Wong added, according to CNA.

Support package funded from surpluses, no draw down on reserves

Apart from the S$100 utilities rebate, the support package will also provide eligible Singaporeans a S$300 one-off GST Voucher cash payment and will make permanent enhancements to ComCare assistance schemes, reported CNA.

To help businesses, the support package will also provide:

• Subsidies for local small- and medium-sized enterprises,
• A one-month foreign worker levy rebate for chicken slaughterhouses affected by Malaysia's chicken export ban,
• A one-off S$150 relief for eligible taxi drivers and private hire car drivers

It will also make enhancements to the Enterprise Financing Scheme.

The support package is funded from surpluses and will not further draw on past reserves.

The Ministry of Finance said it was able to do so as there were higher revenues from financial year 2020-2021 due to a stronger economic recovery, and less-than-anticipated spending on Covid-19 measures.

Top photo via Jiachen Lin/Unsplash