Monetary Authority of Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (Abbreviation: MAS) is Singapore's central bank and financial regulatory authority. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as well as currency issuance. It was established in 1971 to act as the Singapore Government's banker.

Monetary Authority of Singapore
Logo of MAS
Headquarters10 Shenton Way MAS Building, Singapore 079117
Established1 January 1971 (1971-01-01)
Ownership100% state ownership[1]
ChairmanTharman Shanmugaratnam
Central bank ofSingapore
CurrencySingapore dollar
SGD (ISO 4217)
ReservesUS$273.1 billion[2]
Bank rate1.67%[3]
Websitehttp://www.mas.gov.sg
Monetary Authority of Singapore
Agency overview
Formed1 January 1971 (1971-01-01)
Preceding agency
  • Board of Commissioners of Currency
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
Headquarters10 Shenton Way MAS Building, Singapore 079117
Minister responsible
  • Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister
Agency executive
  • Ravi Menon, Managing Director
Parent agencyPrime Minister's Office
Websitewww.mas.gov.sg
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History

The MAS was founded in 1971 to oversee various monetary functions associated with banking and finance. Before its establishment, monetary functions were performed by government departments and agencies. The acronym for its name resembles mas, the word for 'gold' in Malay, Singapore's national language – although it is not pronounced in the same way.[4]

As Singapore progressed, an increasingly complex banking and monetary environment required more dynamic and coherent monetary administration. Therefore, in 1970, the Parliament of Singapore passed the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act leading to the formation of MAS on 1 January 1971. The act gives MAS the authority to regulate all elements of monetary policy, banking, and finance in Singapore.

During the COVID-19 pandemic MAS brought forward its twice yearly meeting from some time in April to 30 March.[5] The MAS decided to ease the Singapore dollar's appreciation rate to zero percent, as well as adjust the policy band downwards, the first such move since the Global Financial Crisis. This makes it the first time the MAS had taken these two measures together.[6]

List of Chairmen
  1. Hon Sui Sen (Jan 1971 - Jul 1980)[7]—late Finance Minister
  2. Goh Keng Swee (Aug 1980 - Jan 1985)[7]—second Deputy PM from 1968 to 1973
  3. Richard Hu (Jan 1985 - Dec 1997)[7]—longest serving Finance Minister
  4. Lee Hsien Loong (Jan 1998 - Aug 2004)[7]—third and current PM of Singapore since 2004
  5. Goh Chok Tong (Aug 2004 - May 2011)[7]—served as Singapore's second PM from 1990 to 2004
  6. Tharman Shanmugaratnam (May 2011 – Present)[7]—served as Deputy PM of Singapore from 2011 to 2019. Now Senior Minister.

Tools

However, unlike many other central banks such as Federal Reserve System or Bank of England, MAS does not regulate the monetary system via interest rates to influence the liquidity in the system. Instead, it chooses to do it via the foreign exchange mechanism, which it has been doing since 1981. In doing so it manages the Singapore dollar versus a number of currencies that they do not reveal publicly - a Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$ NEER). It carries this out by intervening in the SGD market as well as other operations in the money market.[8][9] The MAS reviews its policy stance less frequently than most central banks, in a cycle that is around every 6 months.[10]

Policy decisions

30 March 2020: zero percent per annum rate of appreciation, starting at the prevailing level with no change in width.[11]

14 October 2019: slightly reduce rate of appreciation, with no change in width.[12]

12 April 2019: unchanged rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; no change to width and the level at which it is centred.[13]

12 October 2018: slightly increase rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; no change to width and the level at which it is centred.[14]

13 April 2018: slightly increase rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; no change to width and the level at which it is centred.[15]

13 October 2017: zero percent rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; no change to width and the level at which it is centred.[16]

13 April 2017: zero percent rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; no change to width and the level at which it is centred.[17]

14 October 2016: zero percent rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; no change to width and the level at which it is centred.[18]

2 January 2002: zero percent rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; width narrowed.[19]

10 October 2001: zero percent rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band; width widened.[20]

12 July 2001: zero percent rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band.[21]

10 April 2001: gradual modest appreciation rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band.[22]

22 February 2001: gradual modest appreciation rate of appreciation of SGD NEER band.[23]

Issuing Banknotes and Coins

Following its merger with the Board of Commissioners of Currency on 1 October 2002, the MAS assumed the function of currency issuance.

MAS has the exclusive right to issue banknotes and coins in the Republic of Singapore. Their dimensions, designs and denominations are determined by the Monetary Policy Committee with Government approval. The banknotes and coins thus issued have the status of legal tender within the country for all transactions, both public and private, without limitation.

See also

References
  1. https://d-nb.info/1138787981/34
  2. "The World Fact Book - Singapore". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  3. "Domestic Interest Rates". Monetary Authority of Singapore. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  4. Adam Brown (1999). Singapore English in a nutshell: an alphabetical description of its features. Federal Publications. ISBN 978-981-01-2435-9.
  5. "MAS brings forward monetary policy statement, firming easing bets". CNA. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  6. hermesauto (2020-03-30). "MAS eases Singdollar policy in measured move as economy braces for recession". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  7. "Our History". www.mas.gov.sg.
  8. "Singapore's Exchange Rate-Based Monetary Policy". Monetary Authority of Singapore. Monetary Authority of Singapore. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  9. "Singapore's Unique Monetary Policy". IMF eLibrary. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  10. "Singapore's Exchange Rate-based Monetary Policy" (PDF).
  11. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - April 2020". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  12. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - October 2019". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  13. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - April 2019". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  14. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - October 2018". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  15. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - April 2018". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  16. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - October 2017". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  17. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - April 2017". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  18. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - October 2016". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  19. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - January 2002". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  20. "MAS Press Statement on Monetary Policy - October 2001". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  21. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - July 2001". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  22. "MAS Reaffirms Monetary Policy - April 2001". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  23. "MAS Monetary Policy Statement - February 2001". www.mas.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
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