MAS makes a habit of showing up the market

IN DELIVERING the slightest of easings on Wednesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reiterated a point which the market has stubbornly resisted: that its Singapore dollar policy is not a primary tool for boosting growth.

Instead, it is targeted squarely at containing inflation, and providing price stability that is supportive of growth. Growth itself has to come the hard way - by painstaking efforts to restructure the workforce, adopting technology, and improving productivity.

Ahead of the policy announcement, the majority of market economists had called for an aggressive easing move by MAS, either through a downward re-centring or flattening of the Singapore dollar policy band. Instead, the central bank said it would maintain its policy of a gradual appreciation of the Singapore dollar, but on a "slightly" reduced slope. There will be no change to the width of the policy band and the level at which it is centred.