|
|
Singapore
CPI forecast
Forecasts
for January consumer price gains
from the same month the year
before:
|
|
CPI
|
|
Firm
|
YoY%
|
|
Media
|
5.6%
|
|
Average
|
5.7%
|
|
High
|
6.8%
|
|
Low
|
4.5%
|
|
Number
of Estimates
|
16
|
|
Action
Economics
|
6.0%
|
|
Barclays
Capital
|
5.7%
|
|
CIMB-GK
Research
|
5.6%
|
|
Citi
|
6.5%
|
|
DBS
Bank
|
6.6%
|
|
Forecast
Ltd.
|
5.5%
|
|
Fortis
Bank
|
5.5%
|
|
HSBC
Singapore
|
6.0%
|
|
ING
Groep NV
|
5.8%
|
|
JPMorgan
Chase
|
5.4%
|
|
OCBC
Bank
|
4.5%
|
|
Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking
|
5.5%
|
|
Standard
Chartered
|
5.5%
|
|
Thomson
IFR
|
4.8%
|
|
UBS
|
4.8%
|
|
UOB
Group
|
6.8%
|
|
Singapore
inflation probably climbed to 25-year high
Shamim
Adam
Bloomberg
22 Feb
08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/newspid=20601087&sid=a3...
Singapore's
inflation probably accelerated in January to the highest since
1982, adding pressure on the central bank to curb price gains
even as the economy weakens.
The consumer price index
jumped 5.6 percent from a year ago, after gaining 4.4 percent in
December, according to the median estimate of 16 economists
surveyed by Bloomberg. The Department of Statistics will release
the report at 1 p.m. on Feb. 25.
The Monetary Authority
of Singapore last week increased its forecast for inflation this
year, predicting consumer prices will gain at more than double
the 2007 pace. Rising prices may increase pressure on the central
bank to allow faster gains in the currency in its next review in
April, economists said.
"It's a difficult time for
the central bank,'' said Tetsuo Yoshikoshi, an analyst at
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. in Singapore. "It cannot
tolerate an excessively strong Singapore dollar but at the same
time the central bank needs to bring down inflation from these
high levels.''
Prices probably rose last month as the
government raised property valuations for public housing, the
island's biggest power company increased electricity tariffs and
the advent of Chinese New Year, celebrated by the majority of
Singaporeans, boosted food costs.
Currency
factor
Finance
Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam last week said Singapore will use
its currency and diversify its sources of food supply to curb
inflation. Still, the government warned there is a limit to the
Singapore dollar's appreciation because it reduces the island's
competitiveness.
The currency has climbed 2.1 percent
against the U.S. dollar this year, adding to a gain of 6.7
percent last year. It reached the highest in 11 years today,
gaining 0.2 percent to S$1.4074 against its U.S. counterpart.
Singapore's central bank expects inflation to average
between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent in 2008, after gaining 2.1
percent last year.
To
contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at:
sadam2@bloomberg.net
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|
