The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is set to announce its semi-annual monetary policy decision on April 14. Markets largely expect the central bank to maintain their current policy settings at the April review. The Monetary Policy Statement is unlikely to have a hawkish tone.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) will release the advance GDP estimates for the first quarter of 2016 on April 14. Economists surveyed by Singapore's central bank have cut their forecast for growth in the January to March quarter to 1.6 per cent from 1.8 per cent previously. Forecasts for full-year growth have also been lowered to 1.9 per cent from 2.2 per cent.
Despite downside risks to growth and inflation, conditions as such are not sufficient to warrant a shift to a neutral policy at this time. In the face of slow growth, low inflation and depressed global demand, a number of economists say a further easing this year remains a distinct possibility.
“With the S$NEER trading above the midpoint, we see scope for the SGD to weaken. The MPS is unlikely to have a hawkish tone, and our economists expect the advanced Q1 GDP estimate to show a contraction on a sequential annualised basis, which should weigh on the currency.” said ANZ in a research note to clients.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com