Singapore keeps monetary policy unchanged

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on April 12 announced that it has decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged, in line with expectations, as inflation and economic growth in the city-state moderated.

MAS said it will maintain the prevailing rate of appreciation of its exchange rate-based policy band known as the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate, or S$NEER.

The width and the level at which the band is centred did not change.

Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.7% year-on-ear in the first quarter of this year, according to advance estimates published by the trade ministry on April 12.

As a heavily trade-reliant economy, Singapore uses a unique method of managing monetary policy, tweaking the exchange rate of its dollar against a basket of currencies instead of domestic interest rates like most other countries./.

VNA