Daily Briefing: MAS denies US' currency manipulation claims; Cascadale condominium for sale at $270m

And G&G Group and the Sri Lanka-based EMS jointly acquire a tea plantation firm.

From Reuters:

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it does not manipulate its currency for export advantage after the US Treasury flagged the city-state as one of the countries whose currency practices deserve scrutiny.

The Trump administration said no major trading partner met its currency manipulation criteria but nine countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore required close attention.

“MAS does not and cannot use the exchange rate to gain an export advantage or achieve a current account surplus,” the Singapore central bank said in a statement. A deliberate weakening of the Singapore dollar would cause inflation to spike and compromise MAS’ price stability objective, it said.

The MAS manages policy through exchange rate settings rather than interest rates, letting the Singapore dollar rise or fall against the currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed policy band.

Read more here.

From PropertyGuru:

Cascadale, a 134-unit condominium development along Upper Changi Road East, has been put up for collective sale with a reserve price of $270m, revealed marketing agent JLL.

This works out to a land rate of $1,071 per sqft per plot ratio, after taking into account a development charge of around $17m and before including any bonus gross floor areas.

The 25-year old development sits on a 167,528 sqft site zoned residential under the 2014 Master Plan with a gross plot ratio of 1.6 and a building height limit of up to 12 storeys or 45 m above mean sea level, subject to the relevant authorities’ approval.

Cascadale may be redeveloped into a condominium project with up to 292 units averaging 85 sqm each, subject to approval and payment of development charges.

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-based renewable energy company G&G Group of Companies (G&G) and Sri Lanka’s Estate Management Services (EMS), a subsidiary of Sunshine Holdings, have together acquired a 51% in Sri Lankan tea plantation company Hatton Plantation (HPL) for about $5.67m (LKR1b).

For G&G, the acquisition has been routed through its subsidiaries Lotus Hydro Power PLC and Zyrex Power Company Ltd (LRE). HPL is one of the largest tea plantation companies in Sri Lanka, and is well-known for its quality Ceylon tea.

Upon closing of the acquisition, HPL will become a subsidiary of G&G. The board and management of G&G have outlined their rationale for the cash acquisition in HPL. The deal will support and accelerate HPL’s market leadership in the tea industry and the tea plantation company spruce up its innovation, amongst others.

Read more here.