Debated in Parliament on 11 May 2021.
Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Trade and Industry given the rising prices in commodities markets around the world, whether there are steps which the Government can take to ensure that prices for groceries are kept affordable for Singaporeans as far as possible.
Mr Speaker, Sir, in recent months, global food commodity prices have risen due to strong global demand and tight supply, with the latter caused by adverse weather conditions and restrictions on food exports by some food-producing countries. As a small and open economy that imports our essential food supplies, Singapore has been affected by these developments. To reduce the impact of rising commodity prices on groceries, we have diversified our food import sources and also provided targeted assistance to lower income households.
Today, we import food from more than 170 countries. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries had to deal with food shortages, Singapore was able to ensure the continued availability of most of our fresh food supplies and key essential items. Through our deliberate efforts to diversify our import sources, we were able to keep the prices of food supplies and daily necessities competitive. Such resilience in the essential supply of our food and daily necessities is made possible also because of our excellent connectivity and commitment to keep our ports and key transport operations running even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help Singaporeans cope with the increase in prices in daily necessities, the Government continues to work with cooperatives, such NTUC FairPrice, on Community Support programmes, such as the price freeze on essential items under their house brand during the period March 2019 to December 2020.
For low-income and vulnerable families, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) continues to provide ComCare Assistance to support their daily living expenses, such as food, clothing, transportation and communications. MSF regularly reviews the ComCare schemes to ensure that the assistance given takes into account changes in the prices of essential items and feedback from stakeholders who work closely with the low-income.
We will always do our best to protect our supply of essential food commodities and keep prices stable. However, these are extraordinary times and it is likely that we will continue to see volatility in the prices of food supplies and essential products due to global uncertainties, such as delays in transportation due to border controls and shortage of shipping capacity.
PAPERCUTS