In the latest issue of the MAS Annual Report, Singapore’s GDP forecast remains at 5-7% range, while inflation is now expected to be 4-5%.
And while MAS made investment gains of S$12.3 billion, there was an overall loss of S$10.9 billion when the investments are converted to Singapore Dollar terms. This was due to the strong appreciation of the Singapore Dollar versus the USD and Euro over the past year.
Which means that forex losses contributed to more than S$20 billion. :O
Well, at least MAS did not try to hide the losses by reporting its performance in USD terms (as what another entity tried to do).
If you look at the statement on our reserves updated by MOF very recently (because of the Presidential Election), you can see that the official size of the foreign reserves managed by MAS is S$295 billion, so the forex losses would be quite in line with the appreciation of the Singapore Dollar.
Investing in overseas assets always carries currency risks. I know a few people who like to buy US listed stocks, but personally, I seldom buy overseas stocks directly. Any investment gains (if any) would have been eroded by the strong performance of our currency in the past few years.
And being a small investor has its advantages in that the SGX already offers enough opportunities to deploy my funds to use.