The supermarket chain said it was extending the discount on 500 essential items sold under its house brand in the light of rising food prices.

The discounts on items which include rice, bread and condensed milk, were initiated last December for a three-month period.

It was a popular move at a time when costlier food, transport and health care drove the inflation rate here to a 25-year high of 4.4 per cent.

With prices staying high, FairPrice heeded feedback and extended the discount till the end of this month.

The latest extension till end-July will be the last, but FairPrice will assess the situation before deciding whether to introduce other forms of assistance to consumers.

Labour chief Lim Swee Say said yesterday that the discounts cost the supermarket chain $4.5 million in all.

He ruled out a further extension of the discount as it was a 'big stretch' on FairPrice's bottom line.

But Mr Lim, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, gave the assurance that the labour movement remained 'committed to do whatever we can' to help Singaporeans cope.

FairPrice's ability to offer discounts showed that social enterprises had an increasingly important role as living costs head north, he said.

Speaking to the media to highlight the work of the labour movement's 12 cooperatives, he said they are helping keep a lid on the global phenomenon of rising costs, and also regulating prices on the domestic front.

'Our view as the labour movement is that by growing our social enterprises, not only will they have greater resources to do more good for union members and workers, but more importantly, serve as a very effective tool to check against profiteering,' he said.

Other cooperatives also announced plans to keep prices in check.

Coffee at NTUC Foodfare's food courts, for example, will remain at between $0.70 and $0.90 despite higher bean prices. And NTUC Healthcare will offer discounts of between 10 and 20 per cent on certain products from next month to July.

Cabby So Sim Seah, 38, who spends between $50 and $80 a week on groceries at FairPrice, welcomed the extension of the discount.

'I buy washing powder, tissue paper, oil and rice, so every few cents that I save will help,' he said.

klin@sph.com.sg

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