Singapore names Lawrence Wong as chairman of MAS central bank

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s financial regulator and central bank, has named Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as chairman of its board of directors effective July 8.

Wong, who is the country’s finance minister, will replace Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who held the role for 12 years since May 2011, the release said.

Shanmugaratnam announced last month that he will be running in presidential elections in Singapore, which must be held by mid-September. The president role is largely symbolic and ceremonial.

Wong, who was deputy chairman of MAS since June 2021, will serve as chairman until May 31, 2026, according to the press release. He previously served as a member of the MAS Board from June 2011 to August 2016.

Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong will be appointed deputy chairman of the MAS Board for the same period, from July 8 to May 31, 2026.

Speaking to CNBC in February, he said Singapore faces a challenge of a “delicate balancing act” when setting its government budget for the year as the economy grapples with global slowdown and weakened demand.

Market watchers are closely monitoring if Singapore could enter a technical recession after its economy contracted in the first quarter.

Barclays senior regional economist Brian Tan said, “Our tracking estimate implies a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter decline in Q2, extending Q1’s 0.4% contraction — implying a shallow technical recession.”

Singapore’s industrial production fell for a second month in May by 3.9% month-on-month after seeing a decline of 1.6% in April.

Despite the slowdown, Barclays does not expect the central bank to make changes to its monetary policy any time soon, the economist said in a June 26 note.

“Our long-standing view remains that the Monetary Authority of Singapore is unlikely to further tighten its FX policy settings this year — including via unscheduled inter-meeting adjustments in the near term,” Tan wrote.

Singapore’s Straits Times index saw a bounce shortly after the announcement, paring earlier losses and last traded 0.33% higher.