The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) maintained its monetary policy settings in January, contrary to expectations of a tightening move. The statement's hawkish tone suggests potential policy accommodation withdrawal in April. Edward Lee and Jonathan Koh from Standard Chartered anticipate a 50bps steepening of the SGD NEER slope, with SGD NEER expected to trade around 1.5% above the midpoint of the policy band in the coming months.

Hawkish tone signals future tightening

"We expect MAS to tighten monetary policy in April, steepening the SGD NEER slope by 50bps."

"The tone of the statement tilted hawkish, which sets the stage for some policy accommodation to be withdrawn in April, in our view."

"We expect SGD NEER to trade around 1.5% above the midpoint of the policy band in the coming months."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)