Peg aid for needy to inflation

Peg aid for needy to inflation
05:56 AM Feb 07, 2011
Letter from Leong Sze Hian
I would like to applaud the Prime Minister's recent statement that the Government is zeroing in on low-income households to ensure that they can cope with the rising cost of living.

It could not have come at a better time, as the Consumer Price Index has hit yet another two-year high, at 4.6 per cent in December, year-on-year.
I would like to suggest a fundamental shift in our policy on helping the lower-income.
Instead of once-off packages announced as and when there is a budget surplus, the financial assistance to the poor and benchmarks used to qualify, should be indexed to inflation, as is the case in most developed countries.
For example, the monthly allowances of $360 for the 3,000 people on Public Assistance, and the $1,500 monthly household income or $450 per capita monthly household income criteria for ComCare, should also be indexed to inflation.
Since we typically have a budget surplus, in about nine out of every 10 years, funding on an indexed-to-inflation basis should not be a problem.
URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC110207-0000147/Peg-aid-for-needy-to-inflation
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