Gan Kim Yong, the Minister for Trade and Industry, said that food prices are expected to rise in the coming months due to the increase in energy prices.
He was answering MP Shawn Huang’s questions of whether supply chain disruption and energy costs increase will impact the prices of food in the coming 6 months.
Gan explained that the prices of food are affected by factors such as energy costs, labour, imported prices, freight as well as the changes in the weather.
Over the last half a year, food prices domestically have been increasing because of global food commodities prices increasing, along with higher energy prices, bottlenecks in supply chain and shortages of labour.
He added that energy prices are a contributing factor in the cost of food globally.
As a result, suppliers might need to adjust prices to reflect the increase in costs.
Gan added that Singapore families will be given assistance to “mitigate the impact” and the the Social Service Offices of the Ministry of Social and Family Development will be providing ComCare assistance to households that are low income.
Images source: Gan Kim Yong Facebook and Google Maps