Singapore‘s finance minister said 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 refunds 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 greater revenues from last year’s stronger-than-expected economic rebound.
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 nations have worsened supply chain disruptions.”
“Global energy and food prices have increased dramatically, and we must anticipate global inflation to spread to other areas and potentially accelerate before stabilizing and improving,” he continued.
