In Parliament: Chee Hong Tat says gov’t to consider more assistance & support, especially if inflation ‘worsens further’

Senior Minister of State for Finance Chee Hong Tat said in Parliament on Monday (Oct 3) that the government is “carefully monitoring” rising living costs due to inflation and will consider providing additional assistance if the situation “worsens further”.

The Minister answered a question posed by MP Ang Wei Neng (West Coast GRC), who had asked if vouchers could be given to Singaporeans older than 21 years old, as opposed to every household. He also asked if the government would consider giving additional vouchers to larger households.

Mr Chee answered that each Singaporean household had been given two sets of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers worth $100 in Dec 2021 and May 2022 to help with daily expenses. He added that these vouchers have been well-utilised.

Almost all Singaporean households (97 per cent) have claimed the Dec 2021 vouchers and a large majority (87 per cent) have claimed the May 2022 vouchers, with more than 18,000 participating heartland merchants and hawkers as of last month.

This is equal to S$180 million, or 80 per cent of the available CDC vouchers. 

These vouchers may be claimed until the end of this year, the Senior Minister said.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday morning (Oct 4), Mr Chee also encouraged those who have yet to redeem theirs here.

In addition to the vouchers, other programmes including U-Save rebates, household utilities credit, Edusave and child development account top-ups, as well as public transport vouchers have also been made available to address the cost of living concerns, particularly for low-income and vulnerable households.

He added that in this financial year, a low-income couple with two young children who live in a three-room HDB flat may receive around $3,700 in various forms of support, including cash, education top-ups, utilities and S&CC rebates, and CDC vouchers.

“The government understands Singaporeans’ concerns over rising prices. We are carefully monitoring the situation, and will consider if there is a need to provide more assistance, or bring forward some of the support schemes, especially if the situation worsens further,” Mr Chee said. /TISG

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