Pundits retain SGD's end-year forecast of 1.39-1.41 against greenback

Singapore

ANALYSTS did not budge from end-year forecasts that the Singapore dollar could weaken to between 1.39 and 1.41 against the greenback and ruled out excessive currency swings after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) joined the easing party of global central banks on Monday amid an uneven macro-economic backdrop.

Three key underlying drivers - waning global growth and trade; dim hopes for a US-China trade truce; and a relatively elevated level of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) within the policy band have led Divya Devesh, Standard Chartered's Asean and South Asia FX research head, to stay put with his forecast.