Singapore ready to provide liquidity to keep financial system stable: MAS

Minister Shanmugaratnam assured that the central bank conducts annual stress tests.

Singapore’s central bank is ready to provide liquidity to banks to ensure that the financial system remains stable, a senior minister said in a statement.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister and minister-in-charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said that the central bank is ready to provide a range of facilities to ensure that the country’s financial system remains stable and financial markets continue to function in an orderly manner at times of global stress.

“Amidst volatile international financial markets and stresses in global banking, MAS will seek to safeguard the safety and resilience of Singapore’s financial sector. Through regular risk assessments and close supervisory monitoring, MAS ensures that banks in Singapore are well-capitalised, keep healthy liquidity positions, and are underpinned by a stable and diversified funding base,” Shanmugaratnam said.

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Shanmugaratnam assured that MAS reviews banks’ regular internal stress tests against interest rate, credit, and other risks.

The central bank also reportedly conducts an annual industry-wide stress test of key financial institutions in Singapore.

In the same speech, Sahmaugaratnam outlined the goals of MAS for the coming year, which include securing sustained non-inflationary economic growth, a robust and resilient financial sector, and Singapore’s position as a leading international financial centre in Asia.