Tackling living costs without fixing prices

Singapore

THOUGH the government is working to alleviate concerns over costs of living, some price increases are hard to avoid. In his Chinese speech in the National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted electricity tariffs, noting that they track changes in oil prices and cannot be fixed.

The government has instead adopted a "better approach" of giving targeted subsidies, he said.

Price increases were one of four reasons Singaporeans feel "cost of living pressures" that Mr Lee identified, alongside the respective co…