Singapore’s grant for Taylor Swift concerts ‘nowhere as high’ as speculated, minister says
- Culture minister Edwin Tong, an ‘accidental Swiftie’, said the bottom line is that the government hustled a deal that works for the country and Singaporeans
- The city state reportedly paid about US$2 million to US$3 million for all six shows, contrary to per concert as suggested by Thai leader Srettha Thavisin

It is “nowhere as high” as reports have suggested, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said in an interview on Friday.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was quoted as saying last month that Singapore had brokered a deal to pay the pop star up to US$3 million for each of her six concerts – in exchange for keeping the shows exclusive to Singapore in Southeast Asia.
CNA understands the figure is closer to US$2 million to US$3 million in total for all six shows.
Srettha said he had heard about the arrangement from concert promoter AEG. The company has not responded to CNA’s repeated requests for comment.
On February 20, the Singapore Tourism Board said it “supported the event through a grant”, but did not reveal the size of the grant or any conditions attached to it.