Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Get Actionable Insights with InvestingPro+: Start 7 Day FREE Trial Register here
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
Ad-Free Version. Upgrade your Investing.com experience. Save up to 40% More details
Chance of Singapore easing monetary policy rises as economy flatlines: poll
By Fathin Ungku and Aradhana Aravindan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's central bank is increasingly likely to ease monetary policy at its semi-annual meeting in October in a bid to boost an export-reliant economy being choked by the U.S.-China trade war, economists said on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, preliminary data showed Singapore had annual growth of just 0.1% in the second quarter, its slowest expansion in a decade and well below expectations - increasing the chances the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will act.
Seven of 11 economists polled by Reuters said they expect the MAS to loosen policy in October, with the other four forecasting no change.
One of the seven seeing looser policy ING, said in a note on Friday that a move by MAS might be "imminent".
MAS said last month it was not considering changing monetary policy before its October meeting.
Steve Cochrane, economist at Moody's Analytics, said "The U.S.-China trade war is continuing to have deep and long-lasting effects on the region."
"Given the severity of this quarterly outcome, there is pressure for the MAS to ease monetary policy in October," he said.
There is the growing prospect Singapore could slip into recession later this year with its core manufacturing sector being particularly badly affected by U.S.-China tensions.
Core inflation, another key consideration for the MAS, is at the lower end of its target band.
"We have got a very challenging external backdrop," said Sian Fenner at Oxford Economics.
"With inflation still unlikely to be a barrier, we don't see any reason why they (MAS) wouldn't make some move to ease policy."
The MAS tightened monetary policy twice last year in efforts to control rising price pressures and strengthen its currency - its first such tightening moves in six years.
The central bank manages monetary policy through exchange rate settings rather than interest rates, letting the Singapore dollar rise or fall against the currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed policy band.
The MAS can use several tools to change policy but most commonly it will adjust the so-called slope of this band, which determines the pace at which the currency can move.
Related Articles
Stock rally fanned by hopes of Fed 'past peak hawkishness'
By Reuters - May 27, 2022
2
By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bad news may once again be good news on Wall Street, as signs of slowing U.S. growth fan hopes that the Federal Reserve may not need to...
Cooling U.S. inflation builds case for September slowdown in Fed rate hikes
By Reuters - May 27, 2022
3
By Ann Saphir and Howard Schneider (Reuters) - Evidence U.S. inflation is cooling will not budge Federal Reserve policymakers from half-point interest rate hikes planned for...
Fed carrying $330 billion in unrealized losses on its assets according to Q1 financial statement
By Reuters - May 27, 2022
8
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is carrying $330 billion in unrealized losses on its holdings of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities as of the end of...
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.