"The national reserves must not be disclosed. If this is made public, the SGD can be subject to attacks by currency speculators" is the mantra of the Singapore government. Enough of this nonsense.
First BIG LIE: Currency crisis happens when the exchange rate does not respond to market conditions. There is sufficient empirical evidence that such scenarios happen in cases of a pegged currency, ie the rate is fixed to some other currencies. In the case of Singapore, MAS manages on the basis of a floating rate, using an official band to control daily volatility only. Should chronic trade deficits force the rate down, MAS will loosen the band to allow the SGD to devalue. So the above illustrated currency crisis scenario won't happen in Singapore.
Second BIG LIE: If the SGD is weakened and the MAS wants to cushion the devaluation, it is forced to intervene in the market to buy up as much of the domestic currency as possible. To do this, MAS makes use of its foreign reserves. Thus, the more forex reserves it holds, the stronger the MAS is to support the SGD. So here's the rub. Like all central banks in the world, the holdings of forex reserves of the MAS are all in the open for the world to see. It is currently about SGD427 billion. There is nothing secretive about it, and it has nothing to do with national reserves.
A lot more at https://shrtcô.de/DGdfMr
First BIG LIE: Currency crisis happens when the exchange rate does not respond to market conditions. There is sufficient empirical evidence that such scenarios happen in cases of a pegged currency, ie the rate is fixed to some other currencies. In the case of Singapore, MAS manages on the basis of a floating rate, using an official band to control daily volatility only. Should chronic trade deficits force the rate down, MAS will loosen the band to allow the SGD to devalue. So the above illustrated currency crisis scenario won't happen in Singapore.
Second BIG LIE: If the SGD is weakened and the MAS wants to cushion the devaluation, it is forced to intervene in the market to buy up as much of the domestic currency as possible. To do this, MAS makes use of its foreign reserves. Thus, the more forex reserves it holds, the stronger the MAS is to support the SGD. So here's the rub. Like all central banks in the world, the holdings of forex reserves of the MAS are all in the open for the world to see. It is currently about SGD427 billion. There is nothing secretive about it, and it has nothing to do with national reserves.
A lot more at https://shrtcô.de/DGdfMr
