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THE Monetary Authority of Singapore has raised the inflation forecast by one percentage point to 4 to 5 per cent due to unexpected higher housing and car prices.
The consumer price index which moderated to 4.5 per cent in April and May 'is expected to creep back up to slightly above 5 per cent for the next couple of months before slowly trending down towards the end of the year', said Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of the MAS.
With more economic uncertainty from Europe and the United States, the MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are also reviewing their economic growth forecast for the year, said Mr Menon.
'For now our sense is that the 5 to 7 per cent forecast range remains intact,' he said.
Mr Menon was speaking at a briefing on the MAS annual report, where the central bank reported a record $10.9 billion overall loss due to the strong Singapore dollar eroding investment gains of $12.3 billion.
'If we had reported our profit and loss in an international currency like the US dollar, it would show a healthy profit,' he said.
The consumer price index which moderated to 4.5 per cent in April and May 'is expected to creep back up to slightly above 5 per cent for the next couple of months before slowly trending down towards the end of the year', said Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of the MAS.
With more economic uncertainty from Europe and the United States, the MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are also reviewing their economic growth forecast for the year, said Mr Menon.
'For now our sense is that the 5 to 7 per cent forecast range remains intact,' he said.
Mr Menon was speaking at a briefing on the MAS annual report, where the central bank reported a record $10.9 billion overall loss due to the strong Singapore dollar eroding investment gains of $12.3 billion.
'If we had reported our profit and loss in an international currency like the US dollar, it would show a healthy profit,' he said.
