SINGAPORE: Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums closed lower across all categories in the latest bidding exercise on Wednesday (Jan 22).

For Category A cars, or those 1,600cc and below with horsepower not exceeding 130bhp, premiums closed at S$93,601 (US$69,069), down from S$93,699 in the last exercise.

Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B fell to S$116,625 from S$121,501.

COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, fell to S$65,476 from S$67,891 in the previous bidding exercise.

Motorcycle premiums closed at S$7,709, down from S$9,001 in the last exercise.

Open category COEs, which can be used for any vehicle type but end up being used mainly for large cars, fell to S$115,112 from S$123,000.

A total of 3,895 bids were received, with a quota of 2,715 COEs available.

Earlier this month, the Land Transport Authority said the overall supply of Certificates of Entitlement (COE) for the February to April period will go up by 8 per cent compared with the previous quarter. 

There will be a total of 17,133 COEs, an increase from 15,834 in the previous quarter, which also saw an increase in the quota.

The quota for Category A, B, C, and E will increase by about 10 per cent, while the quota for Category D will remain unchanged.

Bidding under the new quota will start on Feb 3.

The increase in the overall supply of COE aligns with the government's plans to progressively inject up to 20,000 additional COEs across all vehicle categories from February over the next few years. 

The move was made in view of the upcoming implementation of the ERP 2.0 system for traffic congestion management.