To reduce the effects of inflation, the Government will top up the Assurance Package by another S$1.4 billion (RM4.72 billion) to reach around S$8 billion, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in Parliament on Monday (Nov 11).
Mr Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, was speaking in Parliament at the opening of a debate on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike as well as other amendments to Singapore’s consumption tax regime that were proposed as part of the GST (Amendment) Bill.
Last month, Mr Wong said that the Government would review the “sizing and components” of the Assurance Package, which comprises cash payouts to help Singaporeans deal with the impending GST hike, to account for the higher-than-expected inflation.
The GST is set to rise from 7 per cent to 8 per cent in 2023, and to further increase to 9 per cent in 2024.
Official forecasts by the Monetary Authority of Singapore last month puts core inflation for the whole of 2022 to average at around 4 per cent, and for headline inflation to come in at around 6 per cent.
Under the Assurance Package, all Singaporeans aged 21 and above will receive cash payouts that will be distributed over the next five years from December 2022.
For lower-income households, they will receive offsets covering about 10 years’ worth of additional GST expenses, which will help cushion the impact of the GST hike.
Mr Wong said more details of this enhancement will be revealed in his Budget statement next year. — TODAY
