The measures come under an additional S$1.1 billion support package to help Singaporean households, especially lower- to middle-income ones, cope with rising costs.
One thing I really hate about commentators is judging the support based on how long it lasts, like a hand out. “$200 only for a week’s worth of groceries.” No, it’s meant to cope with the increases. It’d be far more useful to frame the argument based on it being enough/not enough to do what it does. Eg $200 but due to increases in cost of living the monthly family expenses has been running at $200 more despite some minor changes in lifestyle to decrease expenses. Then it’ll form a good basis to say that yes, it’s really barely enough, since that’s going to only last for a month.
It’s like they went, how much does an average person spent per month including bills and insurance. $800 per month? Lets multiple it by 12 months, and see how much that 2% GST tax is.$192? Ok let slap an additional $8 and all be good.
It’s one of the more efficient ways to redistribute wealth using GST, which is regressive in nataure.
As for this special payout, I do wonder if it’s enough. GST offset is easy to calculate, but inflation is far more variable.
You probably right.