SGD

[winston]

TOL:-

At this point in time, why would somebody wants to buy the SGD ?

1. Visitor to Spore including Casinos ?
2. Buy Singapore Goods ?
3. Education in Singapore ?
4. Buy Property in Singapore ?
5. Deposit Money in Singapore banks ?
6. Buy Singapore shares and derivatives ?

If you can answer the simple basic questions above, would you be able to see where the SGD is heading ?

[winston]

MAS Surprise

The Singapore dollar weakened against all of the 16 major currencies after the MAS, which uses the currency as its main policy tool, said it will reduce the slope of the policy band for the island’s dollar in an unscheduled policy statement Wednesday.

It also cut the inflation forecast for 2015, predicting prices may fall as much as 0.5 percent.

“The fact that even the MAS has to ease its hawkish stance signifies the effects of cheaper oil as well as how bad the domestic economy is,” Masashi Murata, a currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in Tokyo, said in phone interview.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -euro-drop

[winston]

Singapore’s Dollar to Fall to 5-Year Low on Easing, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s dollar will slide about 3 percent versus the greenback to the lowest since July 2010 after the city-state’s central bank unexpectedly eased monetary policy, according to a survey of analysts by Bloomberg News.

The currency will slide to S$1.39 by year-end after the Monetary Authority of Singapore probably reduced the slope of its appreciation against a basket of currencies by a percentage point, according to the median estimates of 15 economists and strategists. The central bank, which uses the exchange rate as its main policy tool, changed its settings last week in an unscheduled announcement.

“We have become more bearish on the Singapore dollar as we expect the MAS to further ease monetary policy at the next meeting in April,” Roy Teo, a Singapore-based strategist at ABN Amro Group NV, wrote in a research note on Feb. 3. “We now expect the Singapore dollar to move lower versus the U.S. dollar towards S$1.40 by the end of this year, compared to our previous forecast of S$1.37.”

Singapore joined central banks from Switzerland to Canada in trying to shore up economic growth amid dwindling inflation. The Asian city-state’s move was the first emergency policy change since one following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The MAS has two scheduled policy announcements a year, in April and October.

The local dollar was at S$1.3480 at 11 a.m. in Singapore. Royal Bank of Canada forecast it will tumble to S$1.48 by Dec. 31, the most bearish projection, while Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. saw it little changed at S$1.35. The survey was carried out from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3.

Currency Band

Singapore guides the local dollar against a basket of currencies within a band and adjusts the pace of appreciation or depreciation by changing the slope, width and center of the band. It doesn’t disclose details on the basket, or the band or the pace of appreciation or depreciation.

The central bank has halved the slope of the policy band for the currency to 1 percent, according to the survey.

The MAS said Jan. 28 it will reduce the slope of the band, with no change to its width and the level at which it is centered. Singapore will keep a “modest and gradual appreciation” of the local dollar against a basket of currencies, the authority said.

The U.S. dollar probably accounts for 21 percent of the basket, the ringgit 13 percent, the yuan 13 percent, the euro 12 percent and the yen 11 percent, according to the analysts’ estimates.

Unanticipated central-bank actions in January helped boost JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Global FX Volatility Index to a 19-month high of 11.68 on Jan. 16, the day after the Swiss scrapped the franc’s cap against the euro.

Source: Bloomberg

[behappyalways]

Singdollar at 4-year-low against the greenback
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/busine ... k-20150304

[behappyalways]

Billions of reserves being used to prop up weak SGD
http://sbr.com.sg/financial-services/ne ... p-weak-sgd

[winston]

Billions of reserves being used to prop up weak SGD

Reserves have fallen by US$34bn since July.

Singapore is spending billions of reserves to prop up its currency, a report by DBS revealed.

According to DBS, Singapore's reserves have fallen by US$34 billion since July, a trade-off of keeping the SGD on its appreciation path.

"In six short months, reserves have fallen by the equvialent of 11% of a full year's GDP. Little wonder the central bank eased back on the appreciation path in late-January, Further easing will be necessary if reserves don't stop falling," the report stated.

Singapore is not alone in using reserves to keep the currency strong. China's reserves have fallen by US$150b, causing the yuan to barely fall against the dollar.

Meanwhile, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan have all spent the equivalent of 1%-4% of a full year's GDP just over the past six months supporting exchange rates.

Source: Singapore Business Review

[behappyalways]

Asia ’98 Recalled as Currency Losses Engulf Top-Ranked Singapore
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -singapore

[behappyalways]

Singapore Holds Off Monetary Easing, Boosting Local Currency
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... l-currency

[behappyalways]

SGD losing ground versus the greenback after strong 6-week rally
http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/sgd-losi ... week-rally


Euro, yen weakness key headwinds against the SGD: report
http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/euro-yen ... sgd-report

[behappyalways]

Chart of the Day: Here’s why the SGD is Asia’s second-worst performing currency
http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/chart-da ... g-currency