SINGAPORE - About 1.02 million households, or 83 per cent of all households here, have claimed their vouchers since the 2022 tranche of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers was launched on May 11.

As at Thursday (June 30), about $50 million worth of CDC vouchers from the latest tranche has been spent, in what is part of a larger $650 million scheme to help Singapore households with their daily expenses.

This tranche, originally intended to be disbursed at a later date between 2022 and 2024, was brought forward to provide Singaporeans with more financial support amid global inflationary pressures resulting from the war in Ukraine and various supply chain issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the CDC vouchers scheme, all Singaporean households are given $100 to spend at hawker stalls or in heartland merchants.

At present, about 17,500 hawkers and heartland merchants are on board the scheme, including hairdressers and beauty salons.

Providing the updated redemption rates in a Facebook post on Friday, South West District Mayor Low Yen Ling, who is also chairman of the Mayors' Committee, said that $98 million worth of CDC vouchers from the 2021 tranche has been redeemed.

Ms Low said: "Together, more than $148 million has been spent using the 2021 and 2022 CDC vouchers. This substantial injection of sales into our heartland businesses has energised many small business owners, stallholders and hawkers."

Ms Yeni Lim-Borde, 39, who runs a lifestyle store selling Singapore-themed prints and products, said that business has slowed visibly in the past three weeks with the onset of the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Ms Lim-Borde, whose store is located in a Housing Board shophouse at Block 55 Tiong Bahru Road said that on some weekdays, she has noticed a 50 per cent decrease in footfall. But slower business has been partially cushioned by consumers who support her using the CDC vouchers. 

She added: “Customers who used the vouchers were very excited... about being able to purchase lifestyle products like mine… I think it’s such a great idea to give consumers (an) array of options. CDC is not just for food and beverage (businesses).”

The CDC vouchers scheme has also benefited Madam Sally Chan, who runs a printing service at Block 164 Bukit Merah Central. 

Madam Chan said: “Our business was really affected by Covid-19 because when travel was banned, nobody needed to print photos.

“But with the CDC vouchers, customers are more willing to spend, since they don’t have to fork out their own money to print their pictures.” 

Thanking Singaporeans for supporting local businesses, Ms Low welcomed more businesses to participate in future tranches of the vouchers over the next two years.

She reminded Singaporeans who have yet to claim or spend their CDC vouchers that both the 2021 and 2022 tranches will expire on Dec 31.

To claim the CDC vouchers, visit this website.

Once on the website, tap into CDC Vouchers 2022 for the latest tranche of vouchers or click on CDC Vouchers 2021 to claim last year's vouchers.

After logging in with your Singpass, you will receive a link via SMS that will give you access to the vouchers. This link can then be shared with other members of your household.

To search for participating merchants, go to this website.

• Additional reporting by Chong Xin Wei