Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Singapore's finance minister announced on Tuesday that the country will establish a S$1.5 billion ($1...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Singapore's finance minister announced on Tuesday that the country will establish a S$1.5 billion ($1.08 billion) support package aimed mostly at lower-income groups to help them cope with growing living costs due to inflation and rising energy prices.
According to Lawrence Wong, the initiative is geared toward low-income groups, but it would also include utility bill rebates for all Singaporean homes in the city-state of 5.5 million people.
The package is non-cyclical, and it will be partially supported by higher revenues from last year's stronger-than-expected economic recovery.
Singapore has recently seen decade-high inflation, prompting the central bank to tighten monetary policy three times in a six-month period.
According to a transcript released by the finance ministry, "the Ukraine war has put significant stress on global supply systems, and protectionist policies by countries have worsened supply chain disruptions."
"Global energy and food prices have risen dramatically, and we must expect global inflation to spread to other areas and even accelerate before stabilising and improving," he continued.
(1 Singapore dollar = 1.3857 Singapore dollars)
