$1.5 Billion Support Package: How Much More Will You Be Getting

The government announced the latest round of support package on 14 October 2022. The package, which will be funded by the better-than-expected fiscal out-turn in the first half of FY2022, comes as core inflation reached 5.1% in August 2022—a 14-year high and is expected to continue to stay high for the remainder of the year.

The recent support package is intended to provide further cost relief for all Singaporean families, with the lowest-to-middle-income households getting the most assistance.

Every Singaporean Household Will Receive An Additional $100 CDC Voucher

Regardless of the type of residential dwelling, every Singaporean household will receive an additional $100 Community Development Council (CDC) voucher on top of the $200 CDC voucher announced under the Assurance Package for GST.

You could spend the CDC voucher at both heartland shops and participating supermarkets or you could soon, also donate your CDC vouchers. The details on how to donate will be announced later by CDC.

The disbursement will be made in January 2023 and no application is required to receive the amount.

Singaporean Adults Will Receive A COL Special Payment Of Up To $500, Depending On Their Assessable Income And Property Ownership

The newly announced Cost Of Living (COL) Special Payment will benefit about 2.5 million adult Singaporeans with cash payments of up to $500.

To qualify for the COL special payment, your Assessable Income (AI) for Year of Assessment 2022 should not be more than $100,000 and not own more than one property.

The table below illustrates the COL special payment that you will receive based on your assessable income.

Does Not Own More Than One Property					Owns More Than 1 Property
Assessable Income (AI) for Year of Assessment 2022 (YA2022)	AI ≤ $22,000	$22,000 <AI≤ $34,000	$34,000<AI≤ $100,000	AI>$100,000
COL Special Payment	$500	$400	$300	–	–

 

The COL Special Payment will be disbursed together with the existing Assurance Package payouts in December 2022. No application is required to receive these payouts.

Public Transport Voucher (PTV) Worth $30 For Households With Income Per Person Less Than $1,600 

The Public Transport Council (PTC) recently announced a fare increase of 2.9%, which amounts to around an increase of 4 to 5 cents on adult fares, for the 2022 Fare Review Exercise (FRE).

To help lower-to-middle-income households cope with the fare increase beginning 26 December 2022, 600,000 Public Transport Vouchers (PTV) worth $30 will be distributed to households with a monthly household income of no more than $1,600 per person.

Households that received a PTV voucher during the 2021 PTV Exercise and continue to meet the income eligibility will automatically receive a PTV notification letter by end-December 2022.

On the other hand, for households that meet the income eligibility but did not receive the voucher in the previous round, can apply for the latest PTVs online or in person at Community Centres/Clubs from early 2023.

Revised Income Eligibility Criteria For MOE Financial Assistance

The income eligibility criteria for the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (MOE FAS) and the Special Education (SPED) for government and government-aided schools will be raised by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to help more students defray their school expenses.

Additionally, the income eligibility criteria to qualify for the MOE Independent School Bursary (MOE ISB) and government bursaries for Post-Secondary Education Institutions (PSEIs) will also be revised from 1 January 2023. These changes are expected to benefit around 135,500 students from primary to pre-university level.

Scheme	Current Income Eligibility Criteria	Revised Income Eligibility Criteria	Fee Subsidies
MOE FAS and SPED FAS (From 1 Jan 2023)	GHI ≤ $2,750 or PCI ≤ $690	GHI ≤ $3,000 or PCI ≤ $750	100% of school and miscellaneous fees
– MOE ISB (From 1 Jan 2023) – Government bursaries for PSEIs (From AY2023)	GHI ≤ $2,750 or PCI ≤ $690	GHI ≤ $3,000 or PCI ≤ $750	100% of school and miscellaneous fees
	GHI $2,751-$4,000 or PCI $691-$1,000	GHI $3,001-$4,400 or PCI $751-$1,100	Subsidy such that student pays the same fee as student studying in GGAS schools
	GHI $4,001-$6,900 or PCI $1,001-$1,725	GHI $4,401-$7,500 or PCI $1,101-$1,875	Subsidy such that student pays 1.5x GGAS fee
	GHI $6,901-$9,000 or PCI $1,726-$2,250	GHI $7,501-$10,000 or PCI $1,876-$2,500	33% subsidy of school and miscellaneous fees

Source: MOE

MOE will also be raising the bursary quantum for full-time ITE Nitec and Higher Nitec students as follows:

Government Bursary	Current Income Eligibility Criteria	Revised Income Eligibility Criteria (Effective AY 2023)
Higher Education Community Bursary	GHI ≤ $2,750 or PCI ≤ $690	GHI ≤ $3,000 or PCI ≤ $750
	GHI $2,751-$4,000 or PCI $691-$1,000	GHI $3,001-$4,400 or PCI $751-$1,100
Higher Education Bursary	GHI $4,001-$6,900 or PCI $1,001-$1,725	GHI $4,401-$7,500 or PCI $1,101-$1,875
	GHI $6,901-$9,000 or PCI $1,726-$2,250	GHI $7,501-$10,000 or PCI $1,876-$2,500

 

Additionally, it was reported that MOE is reviewing the government bursaries for diploma and undergraduate students and will announce more details.

Support Packages Announced in 2022 Covers More Than Half Of The Increase In COL For Middle-Income Households

Including the current support package, the government has announced various support measures over four rounds in 2022 to provide cost-of-living (COL) support for Singaporean households to cope with rising inflation.

The lower-income (bottom 40%) and retiree households in particular have received significant COL support to the extent that it fully offsets the higher household expenses due to inflation. Whereas, for the households in the middle quintile, the benefits from the support packages would have more than halved their expenses due to the effect of around 6% inflation.

Source: Estimating The Effects Of Cost-Of-Living Support Measures In 2022 Report

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