, Columnist
Singapore Spreads the Wealth
Transferring a chunk of foreign-exchange reserves to GIC could ease the tax burden on the local population.
Just one more reason.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Singaporeans may be in line for some good news. The central bank’s decision to transfer S$45 billion ($33 billion) to the island’s sovereign wealth fund could push back an increase in the consumption tax.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement Wednesday that foreign-exchange reserves of S$404 billion are more than it needs to manage the local dollar against a basket of trading partners’ currencies. (The MAS uses the exchange rate rather than interest rates to keep inflation under control in the city-state’s small, open economy.)