by Robin Chan
THE Monetary Authority of Singapore has raised the inflation
forecast by one percentage point to 4 to 5 per cent due to
unexpected higher housing and car prices.
The consumer price index which moderated to 4.5 per cent in
April and May 'is expected to creep back up to slightly above 5 per
cent for the next couple of months before slowly trending down
towards the end of the year', said Mr Ravi Menon, managing director
of the MAS.
With more economic uncertainty from Europe and the United
States, the MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are also
reviewing their economic growth forecast for the year, said Mr
Menon.
'For now our sense is that the 5 to 7 per cent forecast range
remains intact,' he said.
Mr Menon was speaking at a briefing on the MAS annual report,
where the central bank reported a record $10.9 billion overall loss
due to the strong Singapore dollar eroding investment gains of
$12.3 billion.
'If we had reported our profit and loss in an international
currency like the US dollar, it would show a healthy profit,' he
said.