The Monetary Agency of Singapore (MAS) recently tightened monetary policy by raising the midpoint of the policy band for the Singapore dollar’s nominal effective exchange rate to its current level to combat price pressures.

According to the recently released Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) monetary policy announcement, the authority kept the slope and width of the policy band unchanged.

This policy stance, which builds on previous tightening measures, is expected to help slow inflation dynamics and ensure price stability over the medium term. This is the fourth tightening move by MAS since October 2021 and the second time since January the central bank has moved up a scheduled meeting.

In October 2022, there will be a policy statement. MAS said in its new policy statement that Singapore’s GDP growth is expected to be in the lower half of the 3-5% forecast range for 2022 as a whole, as slowing external growth will weigh on the country’s trade-related sectors in the second half of the year. Still, domestically-focused and travel-related sectors are expected to recover and support the economic expansion.

Looking ahead to 2023 and a weaker global economic environment, MAS said Singapore’s GDP growth would slow further. Meanwhile, MAS raised its MAS core inflation forecast range for 2022 to 3-4% from 2.5-3.5% expected in April, and its CPI inflation forecast range for all items to 5-6% from 4.5-5.5%.