Pinned Post
[SINGAPORE] Singapore will bring forward the disbursement of the next tranche of S$500 in CDC Vouchers for eligible households to June this year – from the original target of January 2027 – and increase payouts under the Cost-of-Living Special Payment. These are part of efforts to ease cost pressures amid uncertainty from the Iran war.
Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow said on Tuesday (Apr 7) that the Cost-of-Living Special Payment will be increased by S$200 for all eligible Singaporeans, bringing the total payout to between S$400 and S$600 per person.
This special payment, which was announced during the Budget statement in February, is a one-off cash payout for Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2026.
To qualify, recipients’ assessable income must not exceed S$100,000; they should also own no more than one property, and must reside in Singapore.
The amount received will depend on their income and the annual value of their residence.
About 2.4 million Singaporeans are expected to receive the additional cash support, which will be disbursed in September, said Siow, who is also acting minister for transport, during a ministerial statement in Parliament on the impact of the Middle East situation.
“We are tracking the prices of food and other essential goods and services very closely. So far, rising fuel prices have not yet percolated into wider price increases across the economy,” added Siow, who had earlier outlined support measures for Singapore’s transport and business sectors.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that given the heightened uncertainty in the Middle East, it is “still too early to make reliable updated projections of inflation in Singapore”, or to quantify the full impact on households.
“But we know the situation has amplified cost-of-living anxieties for Singaporeans,” he noted.
Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak faced 25 charges over allegations that roughly RM2.3 billion (S$727 million) was transferred into his personal bank accounts through a network of offshore entities. PHOTO: AFP
PUTRAJAYA – Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 15 years’ jail on Dec 26 in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of about RM2.3 billion (S$730 million) in funds linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund.
Najib faced 25 charges, comprising 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power, over allegations that roughly RM2.3 billion was transferred into his personal bank accounts through a network of offshore entities. He was found guilty of all the charges.
The 72-year-old was sentenced to 15 years’ jail by Malaysia’s High Court for each charge of abuse of power and five years for each of the 21 money laundering charges. The sentences are to run…
