Budget 2023: Cash payouts of between S$700 and S$2,250 over 5 years for adult S'poreans as part of enhanced Assurance Package

SINGAPORE — All Singaporeans aged 21 and above will receive cash payouts of between S$700 and S$2,250, which will be distributed over five years, to help them cope with high inflation and the planned hike of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to 9 per cent next year.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday (Feb 14) that these payouts are part of a S$3 billion enhancement to the Assurance Package — including a S$1.4 billion top-up Mr Wong had announced in November 2022 — bringing the total package to S$9.6 billion.

The package was first announced in 2020 as a S$6 billion raft of measures to cushion the impact of the GST hike. It was topped up by S$640 million at Budget 2022.

In his Budget 2023 speech, Mr Wong, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, noted that Singaporeans have to “brace themselves for a period of relatively higher inflation”, both globally and at home.

“We cannot say how long this will last, but we expect Singapore’s headline inflation to remain high, at least for the first half of this year,” he said.

Mr Wong said the enhancements to the Assurance Package and the GST Voucher scheme will provide comprehensive help for the majority of Singaporean households this year.

Said Mr Wong: “For lower-income households, the enhancements will fully cover the increases in spending due to inflation and the GST rate increase.”

To illustrate, he said a lower-income family with two young children will receive about S$5,500 in benefits.

This will include cash, government top-ups to the Child Development Account for their children, MediSave top-ups and U-Save rebates, among others.

Cash Payouts

Cash payouts under the Assurance Package for adult Singaporeans will be increased by between S$300 and S$650 over the remaining periods of the package.

As a result, the total amount they will receive between 2022 and 2026 will range from S$700 to S$2,250, depending on income and property ownership, every December during this period.

For example, those earning an assessable income of S$34,000 or less a year and do not own more than one property will receive between S$250 and S$600 yearly. Factoring in the S$200 such individuals received in December last year, this will amount to S$2,250 over five years.

Those earning more than S$100,000 a year will receive smaller amounts of between S$100 and S$200 a year, totalling S$700.

About 2.9 million adult Singaporeans are expected to benefit from this.

Cost-of-Living Special Payment

Singaporeans who are aged 21 and above this year will also receive a one-off cash support of between S$200 and S$400 in June.

To qualify for the payment, they must have an assessable income of not more than S$100,000 and not own more than one property.

Those who earn less than S$22,000 a year can expect to receive S$400, while those who earn between S$34,000 and S$100,000 can expect S$200.

Cost-of-Living Seniors’ Bonus

From June this year, eligible senior Singaporeans aged 55 and above can also expect to receive a one-off cash payment of between S$200 and S$300.

However, they must have an assessable income of not more than S$34,000 a year, and their residential address has to be a property with an annual value that does not exceed S$21,000.

Further, they must not own more than one property.

The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that this one-off bonus is in addition to the Assurance Package Seniors’ Bonus, which was announced last year and will be distributed this year.

The Cost-of-Living Seniors’ Bonus will benefit about 850,000 senior Singaporean citizens.

GST Voucher — Cash

The cash quantum for this scheme will be increased by up to S$350, which will be implemented over 2023 and 2024. 

Those residing in homes with an annual value of S$13,000 and below will receive S$200 more this year, or S$700 in total, followed by an additional S$150 next year.

Those residing in homes with an annual value of above S$13,000 and up to S$21,000 will receive S$100 more this year, or a total of S$350, followed by an additional S$100 next year. 

Cost-of-living U-Save Special Payment

All eligible Singaporean households will receive double the amount of the regular GST voucher — U-Save rebates, which they will receive in three tranches this year.

The total amount that will be disbursed this year will range between S$760 for 1- and 2-room flats and S$440 for those living in executive or multi-generational flats.

About 950,000 Singaporean households are expected to receive these rebates.

Child Development Account

Families with children will also receive one-off support for their children’s expenses this year.

Each Singaporean aged six and under will receive a one-off S$400 top-up to their Child Development Account from September this year.

Singaporean children aged between seven and 16 will receive a one-off S$300 top-up to their Edusave account, while those aged between 17 and 20 will get the same top-up to their Post-Secondary Education Account in May this year.

MediSave top-ups

All eligible Singaporeans aged 20 and below or 55 and above will receive a S$450 payment to their MediSave account every February from 2023 to 2025.

This will benefit some 2 million Singaporean children and seniors.

CDC Voucher Scheme

Singaporeans households will also receive another S$300 worth of Community Development Council vouchers in January next year.

Mr Wong said the enhancement to the Assurance Package reflects the commitment of the Government to help Singaporeans through this challenging period of higher prices.

“We provided comprehensive support last year, and we are doing so again this year,” he said.

That said, Mr Wong added that he hopes Singaporeans understand that it is not fiscally sustainable to rely so heavily on Government support year after year to cope with inflation.

“The reality is that even after the current inflation surge moderates, inflation may stabilise at a higher trend level globally, and in Singapore, than what we were used to in the last few decades,” he said.

“The era of untrammeled globalisation that kept goods at highly competitive prices all over the world is over.”