SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Wednesday (Nov 15) that every Singaporean adult will receive S$200 to S$800 from the Assurance Package AP Cash and AP Cash Special Payment next month.
“The Assurance Package (AP) aims to help Singaporeans tide through the period of higher inflation and cushion the impact of the GST rate increase. The package includes cash payments, rebates, Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers, and MediSave top-ups,” MOF said in a press release.
When the national Budget was rolled out for 2023, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said that the Government would be enhancing the Assurance Package to address higher inflation levels, giving more support to Singaporeans to help with higher living costs.
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For most Singaporean households, the enhancement will offset additional expenses due to the higher Goods and Services Tax (GST) for at least five years. For lower-income households, the enhancement will take effect for around 10 years.
Mr Wong also announced on Oct 28 an additional $1.1 billion Cost-of-Living (COL) Support Package that will especially help lower- to middle-income households, bringing the total AP to over S$10 billion.
Next month, adults in Singapore aged 21 and up in 2024 will receive cash payouts ranging between S$200 to S$800. While around 2.9 million adult Singaporeans will get up to S$600 in AP Cash, about 2.5 million among them will also receive as much as S$200 in AP Cash Special Payment.
Singaporeans may check their eligibility at the AP official website (go.gov.sg/assurancepackage) by logging in with their Singpass. MOF added that the AP Cash and AP Cash Special Payment will be disbursed in one lump sum next month, with Singaporeans receiving up to S$800.
As for how to receive these benefits, MOF added, “PayNow-NRIC provides added convenience and privacy for citizens to receive the cash benefits in their bank account, without having to disclose their bank account details to the sender. Since 2021, the Ministry of Finance has been using PayNow-NRIC as the default payment mode for citizens who have linked their NRIC to PayNow.”
If citizens have accounts with participating banks, they are encouraged to link their NRIC to PayNow by Nov 19 to receive their AP Cash and AP Cash Special Payment as soon as Dec 5. The list of participating banks may be found on the AP official website. Citizens who do not yet have PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts may update their bank account information (with DBS/POSB, OCBC, or UOB) at the AP official website by Nov 27 to receive the payment from Dec 13.
More information about AP Cash and AP Cash Special Payment may be found here. Read MOF’s latest announcement about the Assurance Package here.
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