Singapore, ranked the world’s second-richest country by GDP per capita in 2025, will provide S$1,200 (US$930) in rental support to 6,900 hawkers operating cooked-food stalls to help ease rising operating costs and inflation fueled by the conflict in the Middle East.
The support will be disbursed over six months from September this year to February 2027, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling said on July 29 as cited by The Straits Times.
Over 8,000 market stallholders will also get S$600 under the policy.
Low said the support aims to preserve Singapore’s hawker trade and food culture, while demonstrating that the government is a responsible manager of hawker centers and markets, Channel News Asia reported.
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People queue up to buy Hainanese chicken rice at a Chinatown food court in Singapore, October 2024. Photo by Read/Hoang Phong |
In June, Singapore’s food inflation rose to 2.1%, higher than the core inflation of 1.6%.
A growing number of restaurants in Singapore had suspended operations since the start of the year amid rising costs, underscoring the mounting pressures facing the city’s food and beverage industry.
The city-state saw 1,267 food business closures between January and April this year, nearly half the total number of shutdowns seen throughout last year.
According to official statistics, 3,148 food businesses ceased operations in Singapore in 2025, up from 3,047 in 2024.