Impact on Inflation with CDC Vouchers Given to Singapore Households Regardless of Socio-economic Status
Ministry of FinanceSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns whether universal Community Development Council (CDC) voucher distribution results in demand-pull inflation, as raised by Mr Lee Hong Chuang. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang Wei Zhong replied that there is no evidence the scheme worsens inflation, as inflation moderated from 4.8% in 2023 to 0.9% in 2025. He highlighted that the Assurance Package was increased to over $10 billion to fully offset cost-of-living increases for lower-income households and substantially for middle-income families. Structural support for healthcare, housing, and education is also provided alongside targeted schemes like the Workfare Income Supplement, Fresh Start Housing, and Silver Support schemes. These measures allow the Government to provide responsive and targeted assistance while remaining fiscally prudent in managing Singaporeans' major expenditure and cost-of-living concerns.
Transcript
4 Mr Lee Hong Chuang asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether giving out CDC vouchers to every Singaporean household regardless of socioeconomic status results in worsening cost-of-living due to demand-pull inflation.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance (Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong) (for the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, the Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme is one of several measures introduced to help Singaporeans manage their cost of living.
There is no evidence that the CDC Vouchers Scheme has worsened the cost-of-living due to inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-All items inflation has moderated in recent years, from 4.8% in 2023, to 2.4% in 2024 and 0.9% in 2025, even though the quantum of CDC vouchers increased over that period.
Mr Speaker: Mr Lee Hong Chuang.
Mr Lee Hong Chuang (Jurong East-Bukit Batok): I want to thank Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang for his reply. I just have one supplementary question. Has the Government conducted any studies to what extent the CDC vouchers have helped households manage the cost of living?
Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: I thank the Member for the question. The Government regularly reviews the effectiveness of our schemes to ensure that they continue to help Singaporeans manage cost of living concerns.
Over the years, in response to high inflationary pressures, we have progressively reviewed and enhanced the Assurance Package (AP) with additional cash, U-Save, Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates and CDC vouchers. And in total, we actually increased the support delivered via the AP from an initial $6.6 billion in 2022 to more than $10 billion in 2025. These enhancements have fully offset the expenditure increases arising from high inflation for lower-income households and substantially offset the expenditure increases for middle-income households each year from 2022 to 2025.
The Government also provides substantial structural support to help Singaporeans manage major costs of living concerns, like education, healthcare, housing and retirement. And on top of this, we also provide targeted structural support for vulnerable groups, such as the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme for lower-wage workers, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme for lower-income families and the Silver Support Scheme for seniors who had low incomes in their working years. And when necessary, we will complement these structural measures with one-off additional support for households. This approach allows us to provide more responsive and targeted support while remaining fiscally prudent.