Singaporeans' number one gripe: cost of living. And the biggest target to complain about: GST. Each year the government assures us that GST vouchers are going to make up for the increase in costs. But is the budget actually increasing? We trawled all the way back to 2012 and compiled every relevant number we could find.
Here are some of our observations:
The overall budget has not increased significantly
The budget has hovered around the $1b to $1.2b mark consistently over the last decade. It seems strange that the budget has not increased. According to Monetary Authority of Singapore's inflation calculator, a $100 dollar item in 2012 would cost $110.05 in 2022 (really?) Even with the dubious amount of inflation aside, the fact remains that the 2013 and 2023 budgets are exactly the same.
We noted with amusement that the pre-election years (2014 and 2019) had noticeably lower amounts, which were then increased in the election years. Draw your own conclusions.
It's not all about GST Vouchers
In all fairness, the government has also made other payouts to select groups of people, including lower-income families, the Pioneer/Merdeka Generation payouts, and the Covid payouts (Resilience, Fortitude, Solidarity packages). Additionally, subsidies go out to businesses, the Workfare Income Supplement, and all sorts of other initiatives.
Still, there's nothing more shiok than a big fat cash payout straight into our bank accounts. And the government seems to have realised this, increasing the amounts in 2022 and 2023.
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