FairPrice to offer 1% discount on 500 essential items for 6 months to offset GST hike; extends discount schemes for seniors

SINGAPORE — Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice will be offering a 1 per cent discount for 500 essential items for a period of six months, starting from the new year.

FairPrice said in a press release on Tuesday (Dec 27) that this is meant to offset the increase in Goods and Service Tax (GST) from the current 7 per cent to 8 per cent, which will take effect on Jan 1.

The supermarket chain defined the 500 essential items as products that are “frequently purchased by customers”, and they comprise both house-brand and national-brand products.

These will include fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, staples, dairy, paper products, detergents and household cleaners.

Beyond the discount on the essential items, FairPrice also announced that it would be extending ongoing discount schemes for members of the Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation, and the blue cardholders of the Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas) for another year.

The extension will last from Jan 1 to Dec 31 next year and will apply at all FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Shop stores, FairPrice Finest outlets, FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets, FairPrice On Wheels, as well as Unity pharmacies.

Under the scheme, members of the Pioneer Generation, who are born in 1949 or earlier, receive a 3 per cent discount on their purchases on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Members of the Merdeka Generation, who are born in the 1950s, get a 3 per cent discount on Wednesdays, while Chas Blue cardholders get a similar discount on Thursday.

All other senior citizens aged 60 and older receive a 2 per cent discount on Tuesdays.

FairPrice said that its shoppers benefited from more than S$11.5 million in savings through the Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation and Chas Blue cardholder discount schemes this year.

Mr Vipul Chawla, group chief executive officer of FairPrice Group, said that given the uncertain economic climate, “FairPrice is committed to ensuring that our customers are able to have access to household essentials and the extension of the discount schemes looks to help alleviate some financial burden on daily essentials”.