MAS holds the line
At its 13 October policy review, the Monetary Authority of Singapore didn’t rock the boat, and in line with expectations maintained “the prevailing rate of appreciation” of the SGD NEER (i.e. 1.5%pa). The MAS also held the width of the trading band and level at which it is centered steady. In our view, maintaining the width of the SGD NEER band at 2% from the midpoint gives the MAS scope to support activity should the downside global growth risks flagged materialise (see below). Going forward the MAS is shifting to quarterly, rather than semi-annual, policy reviews in 2024. The next...