Singapore Maintains Currency Stance as Economic Growth Slows

Singapore’s central bank maintained its pace of currency appreciation, seeking to support growth while guarding against inflation as the economy expanded less than analysts estimated last quarter.

Gross domestic product rose an annualized 0.1 percent in the three months through March from the previous quarter, when it expanded 6.1 percent, the trade ministry said in a statement today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 14 economists was 0.4 percent. The central bank, which uses the island’s dollar to manage price pressure, said it will maintain a modest and gradual appreciation of the currency.