S'pore market & hawker centre stallholders to get up to S$1,200 rental support amid Middle East situation

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling announced a slew of support measures for businesses during a press conference on Jul. 29.

The measures are part of a support package of around S$900 million in response to the Middle East situation.

Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Jeffrey Siow explained during the press conference that inflation is expected to remain elevated into 2027.

Against this backdrop, Low said the government is boosting support for businesses in Singapore, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“We do this because we understand that many SMEs are concerned about higher operating costs and their cash flow. We aim to help them better maintain their costs in the near term, while at the same time giving them the support they need to make business adjustments for the long run,” she said.

Support for businesses

Low outlined three ways the government is helping businesses.

Enterprise Financing Scheme

First, a time-bound enhancement will be made to the Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS), from September 2026 to March 2027.

This is to enable local enterprises to better access financing to meet their cash flow needs, Low explained.

They will also increase the Government’s risk-share from 50 per cent to 70 per cent for the EFS-SME Working Capital Loan and EFS-Project Loan.

With this, businesses will have improved access to financing for their cash flow.

The coverage of the EFS-Project Loan will also be expanded to support domestic projects for local construction enterprises, making it easier for them to secure financing to manage higher costs amidst a challenging environment, Low said.

SME Cash Grant 2026

The government will also provide a one-off SME Cash Grant to support SMEs with their cash flow needs.

Active SMEs with at least one local employee will receive a one-off S$500 grant per local employee, capped at S$2,500 per SME.

Eligible sole proprietorships, partnerships, and limited liability partnerships with at least one local business owner but no local employees will receive a flat payout of S$500.

No application is required, and eligible SMEs will receive the benefit in November 2026.

Rental support for market and hawker centre stallholders

The government will also provide rental support for stallholders in markets and hawker centres managed by the government and government- appointed operators, Low announced.

Cooked food stalls will each receive S$1,200, while market stalls will each receive S$600.

This will be disbursed over six months from September 2026 to February 2027.

Details of the support will be provided to stallholders separately by the relevant agencies.

Low added that beyond these three measures, they are continuing to work closely with sector agencies to support and strengthen Singapore’s businesses through this challenging time.

“We are keeping a very close watch on how our businesses fare, and we stand ready to provide additional targeted support when needed as the situation evolves,” she said.

Low further shared during the press conference:

"We want to work with them through this rental support to sustain Singapore's hawker culture and also hawker trade and food culture. At the same time, in so doing, we want to demonstrate the government is being a responsible manager of these premises, the hawker centre and the market."

Around 15,200 stores are expected to benefit from the rental support, of which 6,900 are cooked food stalls, and the remaining 8,300 are market stalls.

Low also explained that the higher quantum for the cooked food stalls reflects the broader range of cost pressures that are experienced by these hawkers, such as the energy cost from preparing food, and raw material costs.