Ukraine crisis, inflation fears fuel market chatter about early central bank action

WITH inflation fears worsening as war rages in Ukraine, some economists have speculated that Singapore's central bank could make an early or off-cycle monetary policy move ahead of its April meeting.

Already, the spectre of higher inflation - driven mainly by rises in energy and food prices - was almost unanimously cited as a risk to the economy in a quarterly survey from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday (Mar 9).

Respondents have raised their estimates for headline inflation to 3.6 per cent for the full year, from 2.1 per cent in the last poll. Full-year core inflation, which excludes private transport and accommodation costs, has been pegged at 2.7 per cent, up from 1.8 per cent before.