Singaporeans' inflation expectations stand pat at end-2018: poll

The DBS-SMU Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx) Survey, supported by the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) at SMU, revealed that Singaporeans do not expect overall consumer prices to change much in the next 12 months but are wary that core inflation may inch up. Singaporeans expect that inflation would hit 2.85 per cent in the year ahead. SMU Assistant Professor of Finance and Principal Investigator of the DBS-SMU CPIEx Project, Aurobindo Ghosh said, “Further tightening of the monetary policy in October 2018 seems to have lowered overall inflation expectations both in the medium and long term, and bodes well for the future effectiveness of the monetary policy regime.” The SInDEx survey was an online poll of some 500 people. DBS came on board for the first time as a co-sponsor and research partner, with bank economists joining their academic counterparts to analyse and interpret responses.