Singapore: MAS to ease in April due to lower growth projections – Standard Chartered

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will ease in April in the opinion of economists at Standard Chartered Bank who have also lowered their 2020 growth forecast for the country. USD/SGD is trading at 1.388.

Key quotes

“We downgrade our 2020 growth forecast to 0.8% from 1.4%. The government has also lowered its 2020 growth forecast to a range of -0.5 to +1.5%, from +0.5-2.5%. Our base-case assumption is that the negative growth impact of the virus will be felt most acutely in Q1, and that it will be mostly contained by end-March, both in terms of infection numbers and fears over the severity of the outbreak. 

“We are now calling for the MAS to ease again in April, versus our previous on-hold call. We think that MAS may shift the slope of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (SGD NEER) policy band to flat from +0.5% per annum currently.”