Book Bar in Duxton Road will have to absorb the higher taxes charged by publishers and suppliers along the production chain, further depleting the bookshop’s profit share. SINGAPORE – From the price of art to how much theatre tickets and books will cost, the imminent 1 percentage point “Non-essential” spending, after all, tends to be the first in people’s budgets to be axed when times are lean.
Booksellers, already struggling with diminishing profits after years of increasing rentals and printing costs, are most apprehensive about the GST hike from 8 per cent to 9 per cent come Jan 1. And though they have more breathing room, art dealers and theatre companies are suffering the jitters too. With reports of a fall in real median income due to inflation, they accept that whether people will continue spending on pricier indulgences will depend on 2024’s economic outlook. Singapore’s gross domestic product for now is still expected to grow between 1 and 3 per cent. The country’s reading public has always been smal