S’poreans To Get Up To S$400 Cash, Part Of Assurance Package Enhancement To Tackle Inflation

Further Enhancements To Assurance Package Announced In Budget 2023

During the Budget 2023 announcement on Tuesday (14 Feb), Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced further enhancements to the GST Assurance Package (AP).

As cost-of-living concerns continue to plague Singapore, the Finance Ministry will be topping up S$3 billion to augment the existing AP. This includes a one-off payment of up to S$400 for eligible adult Singaporeans.

With the latest round of top-ups, the size of the Assurance Package has grown to S$9.6 billion.

Assurance Package includes up to S$400 special payment

Announcing Budget 2023 on Tuesday (14 Feb), Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Lawrence Wong announced further fortifications to the AP Cash Payout aimed at offsetting the effects of the GST hike that kicked off this year.

For starters, the Government will increase AP Cash Payouts for Singaporeans aged 21 and above by between S$300 and S$650 till 2026.

This brings the total amount of cash payment to between S$700 and S$2,250 over the five-year period from 2022.

DPM Wong also announced a one-off Cost-of-Living Special Payment for Singaporeans. Eligible adult Singaporeans can expect to receive a Special Payment of between S$200 and S$400.

Seniors aged 55 and above will also receive an additional amount of between S$200 and S$300.

For 2023, eligible Singaporean families will also receive up to S$760 of U-Save rebates across three tranches.

Meanwhile, children aged six and below will get a top-up of S$400 to their Child Development Account. Older children will receive a S$300 top-up to their Edusave or Post-Secondary Education Accounts (PSEA).

Come Jan 2024, Singaporeans can also look forward to another S$300 of CDC vouchers that they can spend at heartland supermarkets and shops.

Enhancements will cover increased expenses for lower-income families

Speaking in Parliament on 14 Feb, DPM Wong said that the latest round of enhancements will “fully cover” the increases in spending for lower-income families due to inflation and the GST hike.

As for middle-income families, the top-ups will “substantially cover” their increases in spending.

With the latest round of top-ups, DPM Wong noted that the AP has grown to S$9.6 billion.

First introduced in 2020 to cushion impact of GST hike

Announced in 2020, the AP was implemented with the aim of cushioning the impact of the GST hike, from 7% to 9%.

After several rounds of postponement largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government announced that the GST increase will happen in two stages:

• 7% to 8% (1 Jan 2023)
• 8% to 9% (1 Jan 2024)

Last year, DPM Wong also announced S$640 million of ‘fortification’ to the AP.

With the top-up, all Singaporeans aged 21 and above were set to receive cash payouts ranging from S$700 to S$1,600 over a period of five years.

The first such payout was disbursed in Dec 2022, a month before the first round of GST hike.

Additionally, about 850,000 lower-income Singaporeans were set to receive GST Voucher Cash Payouts of between S$600 and S$900 over a period of three years.

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Featured image by MS News.