Excessive Price Pass-through to Essential Goods from Global Supply Chain Disruptions and Rising Rentals
Ministry of Trade and IndustrySpeakers
Summary
This question concerns measures to maintain the affordability of essential goods and safeguards against excessive price pass-through from supply chain disruptions and rising rentals. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong highlighted strategies including diversifying import sources through Free Trade Agreements and enforcing robust actions against anti-competitive practices. He noted that the Government provides financial relief through Community Development Council Vouchers, U-Save rebates, and commemorative SG60 vouchers to assist households with rising expenses. To empower consumers, a unit pricing pilot was launched with major supermarkets to facilitate easier price comparisons across different brands and package sizes. Furthermore, supermarket operators maintain affordability through everyday low-price campaigns and targeted discounts for seniors, Community Health Assist Scheme cardholders, and SG60 commemorative deals.
Transcript
80 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how is the Ministry working with retailers and suppliers to ensure essential goods remain affordable for Singaporeans; and (b) what safeguards exist to prevent excessive price pass-through from global supply chain disruptions and rising rental costs.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: As a small and open economy that imports most of its supplies, Singapore is subject to global economic forces and supply chain disruptions. To mitigate against these, the Government's approach is to diversify our import sources. We achieve this through various strategies, including maintaining a comprehensive network of Free Trade Agreements, to facilitate access to a broad range of goods and services across different markets and provide consumers with more choices. We also monitor for and take robust enforcement action against anti-competitive practices. This ensures that businesses compete and price their goods fairly.
The Government recognises Singaporeans' concerns about higher household expenses. That is why Budget 2025 introduced additional support measures, such as the recent $800 in Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers for all Singaporean households and additional U-Save rebates for eligible HDB households to cope with their utilities expenses. Furthermore, the Government also provided the one-off commemorative SG60 vouchers, worth $600, to adult Singaporeans and $800 to older seniors, that will also offer some cost relief.
We are continuing our joint efforts with businesses to provide affordable choices to Singaporeans and help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions. Since 1 September, major supermarket operators – NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, and Prime Supermarket – have launched a pilot to display unit prices for selected grocery items. Cold Storage and Giant supermarkets will come on board next month on 31 October. This initiative helps consumers easily compare prices across different brands and package sizes to find the best-value buys and deals, and to stretch their dollar. The insights gained from this pilot will inform the Government's plans to roll out unit pricing more widely.
Supermarket operators also have various initiatives to keep prices of essential items affordable. For instance, FairPrice's Everyday Low Price campaign offers consumers over 500 products and there are regular discounts for Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) cardholders and seniors. In addition, many businesses are providing SG60 discounts for food and other essential goods to mark Singapore's 60th.