April 06, 2020, 02:33 PM
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the Solidarity Budget on Monday, Apr. 6 as a follow up to the Unity Budget and Resilience Budget that were announced earlier.
The Solidarity Budget, said Heng, aims to save jobs and protect the livelihoods of Singaporeans during this period of heightened Covid-19 measures.
A part of the budget goes to providing direct cash-in-hand for households.
In the previous Resilience Budget, Heng said that every Singaporean aged 21 and above will receive a Care and Support cash payout of S$300, S$600, or S$900, depending on their income.
This Care and Support cash payout was supposed to be disbursed to eligible citizens from end-August 2020.
Singaporeans to receive extra S$300
In the third Budget, Heng announced that S$300 from this Care and Support cash payout will be brought forward to Apr. 14.
The government will provide an additional S$300 for all Singaporeans aged 21 and above.
This means that eligible Singaporeans will receive a payout of S$600.
This S$600 Solidarity Payment will be credited into Singaporean's bank accounts by Apr. 14.
Those who have not provided their bank accounts to the government will receive a cheque, which will be issued in stages from Apr. 30.
Rest of Care and Support cash payout brought forward to June 2020
The remaining portion of the Care and Support cash payout will be brought forward to June 2020. This includes:
- The remaining S$300 or S$600 from the higher tiers of the Care and Support cash payout
- The additional S$300 payout for each parent with at least one child aged 20 and below
- The S$100 PAssion Card top-up, which will be given in cash, for Singaporeans aged 50 and above.
Noting that not every Singaporean will require cash payouts, Heng urged these Singaporeans to donate to charities on the Giving.sg website, the Community Chest’s Courage Fund or share it with others directly.
Those who require more support can apply for the Temporary Relief Fund and an upcoming Covid-19 Support Grant, which will be available from May 2020.
Top image via Gov.sg/YouTube.
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