Singapore: MAS likely to ease in October – ANZ

Khoon Goh, analyst at ANZ, notes that Singapore’s economy came to a stand-still in Q2 2019, with year-on-year growth falling to 0.1% and not since the global financial crisis has growth been this poor.

Key Quotes

“On a sequential basis, all the three major sectors experienced contraction. For the manufacturing sector, it was the third consecutive quarter of falling output.”

“With global trade still reeling from the effects of the trade tensions and broader slowdown in the global economy, downside growth risks remain.”

“Given below potential growth this year and the MAS Core Inflation expected to head towards 1% y/y, we now expect the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to ease policy at their October review, reducing the slope of the policy band slightly to 0.5% pa from 1.0%.”