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What Did Singapore's PSG Grant Actually Buy?

About 36,400 firms took Singapore's PSG grant at S$6,600 each, an implied S$240 million. Here is what that money bought, from whom, and what nobody published.

What Did Singapore's PSG Grant Actually Buy?

Where the heck did that amount of Singaporean PSG productivity support go? In all, about 36,400 businesses received support over three years, averaging S$6,600 per business. As long as you have your application documents in place, the chances of success are close to 95%. When these two figures published by the government are added together, the total expenditure is S$240 million. However, no government agency has announced this total amount. Where did the money go? Why is the price of the same software 25 times different depending on who it is sold to? What numbers can the average person look at to determine if the investment was worth it? This article answers these questions one by one in simple words.

When actually used it, this allowance was more than a gift card. The state decides on the software and devices in advance, confirms the price, and part of the price is paid almost automatically. This made it easy to use, but it also had side effects. After all, the clearest record of how money is spent is not any expense report, but the price list itself.

How Much Money Moved? an Implied S$240 Million Never Published

No one has stated the size of the PSG, so you'll have to figure it out yourself. This is the original statement by then Trade and Industry Minister General Kim Yong in the National Assembly in February 2024. "In the past three years, about 36,400 companies have received Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG). The average PSG grant amount is about S$6,600 per project. Almost 95% of applications have been approved.

When these two numbers are multiplied together, we get about S$239.8 million. However, this is only a lower limit, not an official total, some companies have completed several projects. The last time the program level budget was announced was S$110 million when it was launched in 2018 [2]. After that, only the number of applications has been revealed; For example, over 116,100 applications have been received over three years [3].

The approval is mostly just a formality and its amount is unknown. At the end of the day, whether or not tax dollars are being used effectively depends on one thing: how much money the approved contractors can command.

Why The Same Software Costs Up to 25 Times More?

Although they are similar tools in the same list, the prices are several times different. The reason for this is not mentioned in any public documents. Estimates for certain HR software range from S$5,700 to S$32,000 [4]. Packages from different vendors range from S$19,430 to S$37,205 [5]. The government covers half of the approved costs, up to a maximum of S$30,000 per year [6].

When comparing the prices of all products, the difference increases even more. According to comparison sites, estimates for HR systems range from S$1,500 to about S$37,000 and accounting software from S$430 to S$54,140 [9]. What makes sellers lower prices even as technology costs fall? There was no mechanism in the answer to the legislator's question. Only one sentence came back. "Diversity promotes price and quality competition" [10].

Do 576 Listings Mean 576 Products? Not Really

At first glance, the scale is large: by August 17, 2026, there were 576 companies for sale [7]. However, in reality there are many cases where different distributors simply buy and sell the same software. Accounting tools alone cover over 20 companies with prices ranging from S$611 to $10,360 [9]. This figure comes from a comparison site and is not an official summary, but the general idea is correct. The list just looks more diverse than it actually is.

What business did this money actually go to? Publicly available materials do not provide answers. The company names and prices are listed in the directory, but the amount received by each company is not disclosed at all. Even the base numbers are different. One monitoring program lists 593 solutions [12], another about 549 [11]. The open data on public procurements only cover procurements that the country itself uses, and they do not include these procurements financed with subsidies [13]. In other words, outsiders have no idea where the S$240 million went.

Who The S$6,600 Voucher Suited: Small Firms Buying Everyday Tools

Most of the money ended up in the hands of very small companies. The products purchased were all standard back-office tools. Official statistics remain unchanged in June 2020, but they show that 55% of users are micro-enterprises and more than 80% are in the service sector. Sales, inventory and customer management tools each account for around 20% of installations [14]. An average of S$6,600 – a check written to a small business will give you an idea of ​​what you can actually buy with that amount.

Recent developments include that nearly 3,000 companies have already adopted AI tools by 2024 [15]. However, many very small companies were not even eligible to apply in the first place. Although these companies account for 94 percent of Singapore's businesses, they did not meet the criteria for support – and were subsequently allocated a special S$10 million line and bank loan [16].

How Much was Checked? About S$8.7 million of roughly S$240 million

Only a small part of the expenditure has actually been audited, and the total amount recovered has not yet been made public. In February 2025, Minister Gan Kim Yong said that more than 1,100 approved PSG projects with a total grant of S$8.7 million underwent post-payment audits, of which about 3% of the projects ... were found to be irregular. [18].

Overall: S$8.7 million is less than 4% of the estimated $240 million. The processed 1,100 applications make up only about one percent of all applications. In other words, that comforting figure of "3% deviation" is just a small sample that does not represent the entire system. When members of Congress asked how much money they had actually raised, they received only procedural statements and no numbers [18]. A later response acknowledged that companies can be excluded or banned from participating – but the number of cases actually excluded was zero [19].

Did It Raise Productivity? The Only Study Stops at 2020

PSG currently has only one decent rating, with data stopping until 2020. It concluded that PSG "improved company productivity by 3.0%" and industry-specific tools had nearly double the impact of generic tools [20]. However, this survey was conducted before PSG's list of solutions had expanded significantly and the AI ​​boom had arrived. No new reviews have been published since then [2].

In fact, companies were never required to report their results. Companies receiving PSG support do not have to report wage increases resulting from this initiative, the ministry explains [21]. Instead, there is only awareness research that 85% of participating SMEs reported that they had saved time, MCI stated in Parliament [22]. In other words, it's a story that the company "feels" and not a number measured by someone else.

What Can Be Said in The Grant's Favour?

To be honest, it's worth listening to the positive stories as well. Small and medium-sized companies seem to have benefited the most. The OECD refers to the same study in 2020 and states that "the productivity of very small businesses increased by up to 6.4 percent" [2]. In addition, a senior parliamentary secretary stated that between 2018 and 2023, companies achieved 48% cost savings per solution [23].

There are two things I have to be honest about. First, both the 6.4 percent and 48 percent figures are based on companies' own reporting, not independent measurements [24]. Secondly, in another study of 129 companies, more than 80% estimated that they had benefited [25]. In other words, the only basis for a favorable conclusion is slightly outdated information and the company's claims. No verification has been done for the years 2021–2026.

What Replaces PSG? The Bigger EDGE Grant

From the second half of 2026, the baton will pass to the new EDGE support and the scale of the support will be significantly expanded. Three previous grants have been combined into one, raising the annual cap to S$100,000 – more than three times PSG's $30,000 [26]. The application is not limited to small and medium-sized companies, but also large companies can apply [27].

AI is pushed to the forefront. The percentage of AI-powered tools on the list is expected to rise from 30% to 50% [29], and authorities have promised to put in place safeguard, while trying not to make the rules too strict [30]. The pre-approved vendor system now works at triple the original, which has made the age-old issue of pricing more of a problem than less.

Here's a lesson that leaders often overlook. Subsidies are useful for buying tools, but there always comes a day when they run out, and the company you tried to ignite with them will eventually have to learn to survive without them. The same logic applies in marketing. Companies that continuously collect search results on a daily basis and make advertising management a normal practice will continue to be effective even after the subsidies end. On the other hand, companies that treat it as a one-time purchase end up back at square one as soon as they spend all their money. Bridging this gap is why companies like 24owlsGroup exist. As a digital marketing and branding agency in Singapore, we provide one-stop digital advertising services for SMEs in Singapore and Malaysia, including SEO, Google advertising, SNS operations and event management.

The Five Numbers That Would Settle It

This system requires payment only within a month of its actual use [6]. On the other hand, the directory listing page clearly states that this does not constitute an endorsement or guarantee [33]. In short, by disclosing just five pieces of information, anyone can judge whether tax dollars are being used appropriately. How much was each vendor paid? How much was (returned) in total? Estimates using data from 2020 onwards; a snapshot of the index over time; and the number of vendors expelled or rejected. However, none of them have been made public.

Until such records become public, the only thing that will tell the full story of how the S$240 million subsidy was used is the seller's price list. And now EDGE is trying to run the same experiment again with three times the size.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much did Singapore spend on the PSG grant?

No official total was ever published. Multiply the two figures the government gave - 36,400 firms at about S$6,600 each - and you get an implied S$240 million over three years. That is a floor, since some firms took more than one project.

How much does the PSG grant pay?

It covered half of an approved solution's cost, up to S$30,000 per company per year. From late 2026 the replacement EDGE grant lifts that ceiling to S$100,000.

Why do similar tools cost so much more from some vendors?

No public benchmark explains it. Listings for similar software range from about S$1,500 to S$37,000, and the government named no mechanism for keeping prices in line, citing only vendor "variety".

Did the PSG grant actually improve productivity?

The only rigorous study, on 2017 to 2020 data, found a 3.0% productivity gain - up to 6.4% for micro firms. No evaluation exists after 2020, and firms are not required to report results.

Who benefited most from PSG?

Mostly small and micro firms buying standard back-office tools: micro firms were 55% of users and services businesses over 80%. The very smallest often could not qualify, which prompted a separate support pool later.

What is the EDGE grant replacing PSG?

EDGE folds three grants into one shopfront, raises the yearly ceiling to S$100,000, and opens to non-SMEs from the second half of 2026. It also pushes the share of AI tools on the approved list from 30% to 50%.

References

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