US$600 vouchers to help Singaporeans with rising costs are not long-term solutions: PM Lawrence Wong

The recent SG60 package, which offers up to SGD800 (US$600) to each Singaporean aged 21 or higher, along with other cost of living measures, account for just 5% of the country’s budget this year, he told members of the parliament recently.

"A much larger part of our spending is in structural programs, especially to equip and empower Singaporeans through education, skills training, skills upgrading, job training and the significant moves we are making on SkillsFuture," said Wong, who is also the finance minister, as reported by Channel News Asia.

He added that the goal of these expenses is to ensure local citizens can stand on their own feed and grasp better chances in a quick-changing world.

Wong was responding to members of the parliament who had expressed concernes that the government was relying only on vouchers to strengthen economic stability.

The government earlier last month announced the SG60 package which is expected to cost SGD$2.02 billion in this financial year.

Under the program, every Singaporean household would also receive SGD800 in vouchers, a program which is estimated at SGD1.06 billion in total.

Wong, however, assured that these measures will ultimately help local citizens earn higher incomes, supported by a strong economy and productivity gains.

"Over the past decade, real wage growth has been commensurate with productivity growth, and we will continue to push for higher productivity as well as higher wages," he said.

The authorities will also make "proactive moves" to keep Singapore a trusted partner in the global trade scene, Wong said.

"In today’s fragmented world, we must work even harder to stay open as a hub where businesses from all over the world can operate with assurance and confidence," he added.