Will MAS change course this October?

SINGAPORE (Sept 22): HSBC Global Research says the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is unlikely to change its policy during its review in October, despite the deteriorating numbers in non-oil domestic exports (NODX), intellectual property, retail sales and unemployment since its last review in April.

In a Wednesday report, HSBC’s economist Joseph Incalcaterra explained that the earlier move by MAS of setting a 0% appreciation for the Singapore dollar’s nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) in April had been a forward-looking one, in anticipation of weaker growth.

Indeed, while there has not been a technical recession, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has indicated that the country’s short-term potential growth to be closer to 2%, compared with the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s estimates of between 2-4% to 2020.

---

Related Stories

• Banks in Singapore can withstand multiple shocks: MAS
• Changes in ICR, leverage to come into effect immediately, with additional disclosures in March
• MAS Financial Stability Review shows local banks can withstand multiple shocks

---