Expanding CDC Voucher Usage from Participating Supermarkets to Heartland Merchants

Parliamentary Question by Mr Shawn Loh:

To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether CDC vouchers available to spend at participating supermarkets could also be allowed to be spent at heartland merchants, but not vice versa, so as to accommodate residents who do not shop at supermarkets, while also abiding by the policy intent to support heartland merchants.

Parliamentary Reply by Senior Minister of State for Finance, Mr Jeffrey Siow:

The CDC Vouchers scheme is designed to be a simple broad-based scheme to help Singaporean households with daily expenses, as well as support heartland merchants and hawkers. Under the original scheme, the vouchers could only be used for heartland shops and hawkers. However, there was strong public feedback requesting that the Vouchers be extended to supermarkets as that is where many Singaporeans purchase their groceries. To strike a balance between the dual objectives referred to above, the allocation of CDC Vouchers was split equally between participating supermarkets and heartland businesses since January 2023.

This simple equal split remains fit for purpose to meet Singaporeans’ varied needs. The utilisation of both categories of vouchers remains high, with almost equal amounts utilised at supermarkets and at heartland businesses and hawkers.

As such, we will maintain the parameters of the scheme for now.