MAS unlikely to join the dovish turn seen among other central banks recently, says ANZ Research

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is not expected to join the dovish turn seen among other central banks recently, according to the latest report from ANZ Research, thus making the case for further policy tightening at their upcoming semi-annual review weak.

With Singapore’s economic growth slowing to trend, the MAS Core Inflation showing signs of easing, and risks to the global economy tilted to the downside, no change is expected to the slope and width of the policy band or the level at which it is centred.

Further, overall policy settings are still below neutral levels, and further policy tightening down the track is likely when growth recovers and domestic inflation pressures emerge again, the report added.

"We expect the S$NEER to stay close to the upper bound of the policy band. With the policy slope at 1 percent per annum, this provides scope for the Singdollar to continue outperforming the currencies in the basket," ANZ Research further commented.