Soaring rents and electricity prices are squeezing Singapore retailers’ margins
PUBLISHED WED, JUL 6 20228:59 PM EDTCharmaine Jacob@CHARMAINEMJACOB
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KEY POINTS
- Retail businesses in Singapore are grappling with higher costs as rents rise and energy prices soar, the Singapore Retailers Association said.
- The surge in energy tariffs is mainly fueled by higher energy costs driven by “rising global gas and oil prices exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine,” utilities company SP Group said.
- Song Seng Wun, economist at CIMB Private Banking, said rentals, labor costs and utility charges have all gone up, and it’s “hitting everyone” including retail businesses.
Retail businesses in Singapore are grappling with higher costs as rents rise and energy prices soar, the Singapore Retailers Association said.
Cost pressure is a big concern for many Singapore retailers which have not completely passed on price increases to consumers, and are currently feeling the “margin squeeze,” Ernie Koh, the association’s president told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia Tuesday.