Sometimes I just don’t understand the Singapore government. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Sunday recent monetary adjustments made by Singapore's central bank are NOT made in response to inflationary pressures.
Why not? I know the Singapore government got this obsession about not having welfare for Singaporeans, but surely admitting that the Singapore government is doing something for its’ cizitens is a good thing, right? The Singapore dollar hit 1.36 against the US dollar last week after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) allow the Singapore dollar to appreciate at a faster pace.
Clearly, this is the MAS way to curb rising inflation, which hit a high of 6.6 per cent earlier this year. Now I understand some business people worry that a stronger Singapore dollar will hurt their exports to other countries, but too bad for them. With food riots in other countries, surely it’s advisable for the Singapore government to show that it is taking steps to ensure food prices in Singapore stay low.
Why not admit it? Not only should they admit it, I think the government ought to shout it out loud. Forgot what the business people say, curbing inflation and keeping prices low is important to normal Singaporeans. Be proud of it.
2 comments:
Why not admit it?
Because by doing so, it would show that they were way behind the curve...
Not so long ago, they were still saying how a strong SGD would not help to combat inflation...
And if they had done it earlier, GIC and Temasek's investments in UBS and the likes would have been cheaper (in SGD terms) too!
I don't think you can say it's behind the curve. The rapid rise in inflation is very surprising for everyone. But they should admit to having a strong SGD to combat inflation as I think it will at least slow down the price rise and that's a good thing for Singaporeans
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