The last time I recall a ludicrous COE price, it was $50. Somebody was trying his luck and as luck would have it, there were less bidders than COEs, so the certs went for a song. Yesterday's results of the November bidding exercise, showed an historic low of $2! 1,852 bids were received for a quota of 1,851..... It reminds me of the NBA where games were won or lost by the last attempt during overtime, something like 132-133!
Still, let's do some math - last month's COE for this category was priced at $12,577. This month's shortfall of $12,575 translates over 1,851 certs to some $23m less in the government's coffers, ouch! What will happen then? The typical Singaporean will say, "I want car!" Some will do their sums. Some won't and find out later that ERP, fuel, parking, road tax and insurance cost more than their monthly instalments. CapEx vs OpEx.
I have a good friend who doesn't use the highway and doesn't bother with ERP timings and charges. His reasoning is simple, why bother with something that changes all the time? I never remember my age; I tell people who ask what year I was born. If it is necessary to use the highway, he will pay regardless of the charge. Like some pre-paid phone card users - they know the per minute is expensive but they call during emergencies and don't care about the rate.
After my meandering, all I really want to say is: do expect change, especially discussed in my previous posting, there is a need to attack the deficit.
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When there is a will, there is a way. It is too hard to believe that it is a sheer coincidence that the # of bid just exceeded the quota by 1.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is good for the car industry. My husband has also decided to trade in his car for a new car. But I don't think he will get it because the COE for the new car is pegged at $2k - which I doubt if it will ever go below $4k