THE Singapore dollar hit another all-time high against the greenback yesterday, after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a one-off hike in the domestic currency to combat strong inflation.
In its latest monetary policy review, which is conducted twice a year, the MAS said it had raised the band within which the Singdollar trades in the market.
This was less aggressive than recent MAS moves to strengthen the currency.
A stronger Singdollar makes imports cheaper, helping to mitigate the rising global prices of the many goods and services that Singapore imports.
Unlike in recent policy reviews, the MAS made no change to the width of the trading band - which gives the currency more or less freedom to fluctuate - or to its slope, which determines how rapidly the Singdollar appreciates.
The decision to move the whole band higher instead comes as the central bank warned that inflation is expected to stay elevated for most of this year, on the back of a bustling economy.
-- ST