MAS safeguards enough to curb consumer over-indebtedness—MAS chairman

The news comes as bad debts jumped nearly 20% in Q1.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore's safeguards are enough to mitigate the risk of consumer over-indebtedness, Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of MAS said.

This was a response to a parliamentary question regarding recent statistics from MAS about an increase in bad credit card debts of nearly 20% in the first quarter of 2024. 

Gan said MAS tracks credit card delinquency rates, which give a more current sense of whether consumers are falling behind in their credit card payments. He noted that credit card delinquency rates have remained stable and are still lower than pre-COVID levels.

Furthermore, he reiterated that Singaporeans should make use of MoneySense, the country’s financial education programme. 

It urges consumers to spend within their means and reminds borrowers to prioritise paying off high interest debts to avoid high interest charges. 

Also, the Institute for Financial Literacy (IFL) provides financial education including ‘Basics of money management’ and ‘Understanding loans and credit’ modules.

Consumers can also sign up for free on one-on-one “financial health clinics" run by IFL.