2.5 million adult Singaporeans will receive an additional one-off payment of up to S$200 in cash in December 2023, as part of the government's S$1.1 billion support package to help Singaporeans cope with rising living costs.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong on Sep. 28.
Singaporean households will also receive an additional S$200 Community Development Council (CDC) voucher next year.
According to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), this additional support package also includes a S$800 million enhancement to the Assurance Package (AP), bringing the AP to over S$10 billion.
Details of cash special payment
The special payment will be given to Singaporeans who are 21 and above in 2024, have an annual assessable income of up to S$100,000, and do not own more than one property.
This is to provide more support to lower- and middle-income adult Singaporeans.
Specifically, eligible adult Singaporeans with an assessable income of S$34,000 and below will receive S$200, and those with an assessable income between S$34,000 and S$100,000 will receive S$150.
In total, eligible adult Singaporeans will receive up to S$800 in cash in December 2023.
CDC vouchers
Every Singaporean household will also receive an additional S$200 worth of CDC vouchers in 2024, bringing the total amount of CDC vouchers received to S$500 by next year.
The additional vouchers will be allocated equally, which means that Singaporeans can spend S$100 at participating heartland merchants and hawkers while spending the other half at participating supermarkets.
Households can claim their CDC vouchers digitally at http://go.gov.sg/cdcv from Jan. 3, 2024 onwards.
However, do note the vouchers will expire in end-2024.
Additional S&CC rebate
950,000 Singaporean households residing in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats will receive an additional one-off 0.5-month of service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebate, which will be disbursed in January 2024, along with the regular S&CC rebates.
According to MOF, on average, this rebate will "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.
Earlier in June, it was announced that 15 town councils will raise their S&CC from July 2023, in a phased increase over two years.
The first increase in 2023 will range from S$0.70 to S$7.90 a month, depending on the flat type.
The second increase, which will take effect on Jul. 1, 2024, will be slightly higher at between S$1 and S$9.10 a month.
According to a Jun. 1 media release by Marine Parade Town Council, the increases are smaller than they would have been because of "special funding support" provided by the government.
Additional U-Save rebates
From January 2024 to December 2025, 950,000 Singaporean households living in HDB flats will receive an additional S$20 per quarter of U-Save rebates.
To put in numbers, that is a total of S$80 per year for two years.
These rebates will be disbursed together with regular U-Save rebates and will cushion the impact of the increases in carbon and water price in 2024 and 2025, said MOF.
The ministry also stated that the additional U-Save 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 over the course of next two years.
On Sep. 27, 2023, PUB announced that the price of water is set to increase by 50 cents per cubic metre over the next two years, equivalent to a price hike of around 18 per cent.
Public transport vouchers & subsidies
Households with a monthly household income per person of not more than S$1,600 will also be given public transport vouchers (PTVs) worth S$50 each.
These PTVs will be disbursed from the end of December 2023, and can be used to top up fare cards or buy monthly travel or concession passes.
Additional subsidies of about S$300 million will also be rolled out in 2024 to cover the deferred fare adjustment quantum of 15.6 per cent that will be carried over to future fare review exercises as announced by the Public Transport Council (PTC) on Sep. 18.
The subsidy will also help moderate the fare increase and pay for higher costs of providing public transport services due to continued increases in energy prices in 2022, core inflation, and strong wage growth, said MOF.
On Sep. 18, the PTC announced that adult fares for bus and train rides would go up by 10 to 11 cents, depending on the distance of the journey.
Top images via Unsplash & Lawrence Wong/Facebook
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