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ECONOMISTS are not ruling out a further easing of monetary policy in Singapore this year, following January’s first loosening move since 2020 – though a common base scenario is for the central bank to stand pat for the rest of 2025.

Several economists cited the global trade impact from US President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs as a potential reason for further easing.

Having held policy steady since its last tightening move in October 2022, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday (Jan 24) said that it will “slightly” reduce the slope of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band.

There was no change to the width of the band or the level at which it is centred.

The move was in line with market expectations, and the “fairly muted” market response suggests that “expectations were already in the price”, said OCBC chief economist Selena Ling.