Singapore’s Budget 2023 was recently announced on the 14th February. If you are keen to stay informed of the latest announcements and changes. In this article, we’ll be discussing the five most important changes that are set to take place in Singapore’s Budget 2023. This will allow you to be aware and make sense of this upcoming financial shift.
Introduction: What exactly is the Singapore Budget 2023?
It has come to the time of the year again. The Singapore Finance Minister will be sharing the key points in the Budget Statement in parliament. Many people would wonder how this will affect me personally. Is there anything I need to know about it? In actuality, the Singapore Budget typically includes measures that have an effect on a wide range of Singaporeans. This includes working adults, households, company owners and many more. Below are some of the key highlights across the different groups of Singaporeans that you should be aware about.
5 Highlights of the Budgets
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a continual struggle for all Singaporeans over the past three years. To assure a brighter future, this year’s budget guides Singaporeans on moving forward in a new post-pandemic age.
1st Highlight: Support Measures for all Singaporean Individuals (Above 21)
- Assurance Package (AP)
Firstly, the Assurance package was introduced in 2020 to help Singaporeans cushion the impact of the GST increase. However, for Budget 2023, the government enhanced AP from $6.6 billion to $9.6 billion to account for higher inflation. For 2023, every Singaporeans aged 21 and above will receive cash payments between $300 and $650. Click here to find out how much you are eligible for 2023.
- One-off Special Cash Payment
Secondly, in June, eligible Singaporeans who are 21 or older would get a payment of $200 to $400. Furthermore, qualified seniors 55 years of age and older will receive an additional payment of between $200 and $300.
- MediSave Accounts Top-up
Thirdly, every February from 2023 to 2025, eligible Singaporeans will have their CPF MediSave accounts topped up with S$450. This is applicable for Singaporeans aged 20 and under or 55 and over.
2nd Highlight: Support Measures for all Households
- U-Save Rebates
U-save rebates are rebates credited directly to household’s utilities managed by SP services. This is eligible for all households living in HDB flats who do not own more than one property. Furthermore, these rebates will be disbursed across January, April, July and October in 2023. Eligible households can expect to receive between $440 to $760.
- Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers
Since 2021, the Singapore Government has issued CDC vouchers to help cushion the increase in GST. For 2023, every Singaporean household is expected to receive $300 CDC vouchers. Moreover, these vouchers are expected to benefit up to 1.3 million households. This can be used at participating heartland merchants, hawkers and supermarkets.
- Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebates
Finally, S&CC Refund will be given to eligible Singaporean households with HDB flats to offset 1.5 to 3.5 months of S&CC. This is expected to benefit up to 950,000 households for 2023.
3rd Highlight: Support Measures for Households (Specific for Kids)
- Child Development Account (CDA) Top-up
The CDA account is a special savings account intended for children before the age of 12. This fund can be used for fees for childcare, medical expenses and even purchase of healthcare items. For Budget 2023, children below the age of 6 will receive a one-time $400 top up to the CDA account.
- Edusave & Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) Top-ups
Edusave and PSEA accounts are intended for children between 7 and 16 years. In addition, these accounts can be used for school fees and any additional school-related expenses. For Budget 2023, children between 7 to 20 will receive a one-time $300 to either their Edusave or PSEA account.
4th Highlight: Growing Economy and Supporting Workers
- Additional Training and Job placements for workers
The government will be rolling out pilot programs to facilitate jobs-skills training in these specific industries. These include the Precision Engineering, Retail, and Wholesale Trade industries. Apart from skills-training, this program will also assist workers in the jobs matching process.
- CPF Support for Freelance/Gig workers
Common freelance workers include employees that work for major platforms like Grab and Foodpanda. These workers will eventually be covered by the Central Provident Fund (CPF) program. This is intended to increase these freelance employees’ financial security. They will be required to have CPF contributions in addition to employer contributions. For workers earning less than S$2500 per month, they will receive transitional assistance for the first four years. More details will be announced at the Ministry of Manpower’s Committee of Supply debate.
5th Highlight: Additional Highlights
- Revised CPF Contribution
Lastly, Singaporeans with middle-class incomes will have their CPF monthly wage maximum increased to enable them to save more for retirement. In order to keep up with rising incomes, the monthly salary maximum will be gradually increased later this year, from S$6,000 in 2016 to S$8,000 in 2026. The annual CPF contribution will still maintain the same at S$102,000.
Conclusion
If you are keen to find out more details of the Budget 2023, you can click here to find out. In addition, there was a new online Budget calculator launch to help people in Singapore the benefits they can receive.
Lastly, we hope this article was useful in giving you a quick summary of Budget 2023. In the meantime, if you are interested, do check out our other latest articles. Trust Bank Referral, What exactly happened to Adani Group and Best Standard Chartered card deals.
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