Singapore’s plan to increase the GST was passed in parliament yesterday (7 November) and is set to take effect from 2023 onwards.
The GST will increase to 8% in 2023 and 9% in 2024, as it was debated in parliament yesterday, before being passed despite all the opposition MPs voting “no” to it.
All the Workers’ Party (WP) MPs and NCMPs from the Progress Singapore Party voted no to the bill.
WP MP Jamus Lim suggested in his debate that the GST hike should be postponed, citing how the inflation had hit Singaporeans hard.
He said the GST hike should be postponed for essential items because they are subject to volatile prices recently, and is reasonable to offer “temporary targeted relief” because those items are not optional.
Lim also expressed his fear that the GST hike would further feed the monster of inflation, which is stubbornly persistent.
He said that inflation would actually increase after the GST hike, citing Japan as an example – Japan increase their GST thrice over 25 years and their inflation rate doubled for up to a year each time.