A view of the skyline in Singapore, on Jan. 27, 2023. Photo by Reuters
All Singaporean households will each get S$800 (US$600) in Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers to ease rising costs as part of the city-state’s 2025 national budget.
These vouchers will be distributed in two tranches, one worth S$500 this May and another worth S$300 next January, CNA reported, citing the Budget 2025 announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday.
The vouchers will be valid until Dec. 31, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2026, respectively, according to Mothership.
Half of the vouchers can be redeemed at participating supermarkets, while the rest can be used at heartland merchants and hawkers, similar to previous rounds of the CDC voucher scheme.
Introduced in 2020, the scheme aims to assist Singaporean households with living expenses and provide support to hawkers and heartland merchants impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two rounds of vouchers totaling S$800 were issued last year, with 97% of Singapore’s 1.3 million households claiming them.
The voucher scheme is expected to cost the government S$1.06 billion in the 2025 financial year.
The city-state’s GDP expanded by 4.4% last year, up from a revised 1.8% in 2023, but its trade ministry projects slower growth of 1.0% to 3.0% in 2025, according to Reuters.
While inflation eased to its lowest level in three years last December, Singaporeans continue to struggle with rising costs.
“We will continue to provide support for as long as needed, within our means,” he noted, as quoted by The Straits Times.
Wong noted that while the 2025 budget will help cushion the impact of higher prices, the most effective long-term solution is to boost economic growth and productivity.
