MAS unlikely to ease again in April policy meeting, says HSBC

Although other banks have become more dovish.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is unlikely to ease its monetary policy stance in the upcoming April meeting, a report by HSBC stated.

Although a number of other central banks in the region have jumped into the easing bandwagon, HSBC believes that will refrain from moving in April as the current monetary policy stance remains “appropriate”.

“We expect the MAS to remain on hold in April. We believe that if conditions really do warrant it, such as core CPI dropping to or below the lower bound of the 0.5-1.5% range, then the MAS would likely wait until the next policy meeting in October. Along with our FX strategists, we believe that if there are to be any future moves, it would likely be a band widening, which would give the MAS more flexibility while still allowing it to maintain the medium-term structural reasoning supporting its monetary stance,” stated HSBC.