In May this year as finews.asia reported, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) withdraw the status as a merchant bank of Ticino based Banca della Svizzera Italiana (BSI) in Singapore, for what the MAS said were serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank’s operations, and gross misconduct by some of the bank’s staff.
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In 2016, economists expect the growth in the manufacturing sector to be up 0.7 per cent from no growth expectations in the previous June survey, while wholesale and retail trade is now expected to grow by 2.1 per cent this year, marginally up from the 2 per cent growth.
The survey, which had 22 respondents, doesn’t reflect the MAS’ own forecasts.
The statement said vector control operations and outreach efforts are being carried out. The economists’ forecasts ranged from 1.1 per cent to 2.2 per cent. The finance and insurance industry is expected to grow 2 per cent, down from 2.9 per cent, while the construction sector was revised downward to 3 per cent, from 3.3 per cent. Back in June, the survey had pointed towards an expansion of 2.1 per cent for 2017.
The survey predicts that on average, Singapore’s monthly consumer-price index would fall 0.5% this year, compared with an average 0.4% contraction predicted in the June survey.
The respondents also expect core inflation to clock one per cent in 2016, which is higher than the previous survey.
The Singapore dollar was also expected to see more strength, with the median forecast now for the United States dollar to fetch 1.38 Singapore dollars by the end of the year, compared with the June survey’s forecast of 1.40 Singapore dollars.
At 11:47 am, the greenback was fetching 1.3469 Singapore dollars.
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