In September 2021, Lawrence Wong became Singapore’s finance minister and deputy prime minister. (Source: Bloomberg | Getty Images)
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s financial regulator and central bank, has appointed Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as the chairman of its board of directors, effective July 8. Lawrence Wong, who is also the country’s finance minister, will succeed Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who served as the chairman for 12 years since May 2011, according to the press release (source).
Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced in the previous month that he would be running in the upcoming Singapore presidential elections, which are expected to be held by mid-September. It’s important to note that the president role in Singapore is mostly ceremonial and symbolic.
Lawrence Wong, who has been the deputy chairman of MAS since June 2021, will serve as chairman until May 31, 2026. He previously served as a member of the MAS Board from June 2011 to August 2016.
Gan Kim Yong, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, will be appointed as the deputy chairman of the MAS Board for the same period, from July 8 to May 31, 2026.
In a previous interview with CNBC in February, Lawrence Wong mentioned that Singapore faces the challenge of a “delicate balancing act” while setting its government budget for the year due to the global economic slowdown and weakened demand.
Market watchers are closely monitoring the possibility of Singapore entering a technical recession following its economic contraction in the first quarter.
Barclays’ senior regional economist, Brian Tan, stated, “Our tracking estimate suggests a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter decline in Q2, extending Q1’s 0.4% contraction — implying a shallow technical recession.”
In May, Singapore’s industrial production fell for a second consecutive month, declining by 3.9% month-on-month after a 1.6% decline in April (source).
Despite the economic slowdown, Barclays does not expect the MAS to make any changes to its monetary policy in the near future, as mentioned in a note by the economist on June 26.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
