US Dollar / Singapore Dollar - USD/SGD

Created in 1967 when Singapore decided to take its independence from Malaysia, the Singapore dollar (SGD) was for a short period indexed on the sterling pound then on the American dollar (USD) before being defined from the 70s (and today, under the high authority of the MAS - Monetary Authority of Singapore) by a +/-2% “peg” in relation with a basket of currencies issued by the main trade partners and economic competitors of Singapore.

The exact nature of the currencies and the weightings of the basket is kept secret by the MAS, and the specialized investors that intervene on the SGD tend to try to replicate the basket of currencies with the aim of anticipating the fluctuations in the Singapore currency.

With an exchange value USD/SGD = .1.8225 in October 2001, the USD/SGD cross knew until 2006 a continuous bearish movement but with small amplitude that lead to the value USD/SGD = 1.60 in April 2006, bearish movement that becomes a bit more marked until July 2008, when the exchange value on the Forex was USD/SGD = 1.3532.

In seven years, the appreciation of the Singapore dollar against the American Dollar is of about + 27%.

In the context of the financial and stock-exchange crisis during the Fall of 2008, and in particular, of the credit crisis that followed and made the dollar demands increase, the Singapore dollar will strongly and quickly decrease against the American dollar, the USD/SGD cross had the exchange value USD/SGD = 1.5237 in December 2008 (-13% in 5 months) and USD/SGD = 1.5463 on March, 2nd 2009.

Then, the Singapore Dollar increased in value against the US dollar with USD/SGD= 1.3933 (nearly the same value as in July 2008) in October 2009.