The research findings of the 31st round of quarterly release for the DBS-SKBI Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations Survey at SMU’s Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics showed that Singaporeans’ One-year-Ahead headline inflation expectations polled at 3.1% in March 2019. SMU Assistant Professor of Finance Aurobindo Ghosh – who is the study’s principal investigator thinks the latest trend could be cyclical as the six-year average for the first quarter is 3.4%.  He said "overall inflation has been largely benign" since the Monetary Authority of Singapore tightened its monetary policy twice last year and chose to make no changes in its latest policy review last week. SMU Provost Professor Timothy Clark said such household surveys can be useful in gauging the credibility of central banks and offer a different perspective on the economy.  "Firms also take into account inflation expectations, harnessing the information as a guide for understanding investment decisions, longer-term business planning, price-setting behaviour and labour market hiring," he added.