Our assets and liabilities

Official Foreign Reserves (OFR)

OFR is accumulated when MAS intervenes in the foreign exchange market as part of monetary policy implementation, to keep an appreciating Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) within the bounds of MAS’ policy band, through buying foreign currency and selling SGD.

The appreciation pressure on the Singapore dollar has reflected both supply and demand factors within the flow of funds. Chief among these have been the following two factors:

• Public sector operations which withdraw supply of Singapore dollars from the system. These occur if the Government records overall fiscal surpluses, and because of government borrowings through issuance of Singapore Government Securities (SGS) in the bond market, and issuance of Special Singapore Government Securities (SSGS) to the CPF Board.

  • The proceeds of SGS and SSGS issuance cannot be spent in the Government budget, and hence contribute to overall public sector surplus monies that are placed with MAS in the form of government deposits.

  • Together, these public sector operations result in a withdrawal of Singapore dollar liquidity from the domestic banking system, which leads to appreciation pressures on the Singapore dollar.

• Capital inflows into Singapore which increase the demand for Singapore dollars. These capital inflows reflect Singapore's strong economic and financial fundamentals, as reflected in its triple-A credit rating over many years. These too lead to appreciation pressures on the Singapore dollar.

MAS' monetary policy operations ensure that the appreciation pressures on the Singapore dollar, whichever their source, do not compromise the objective of its exchange rate-centred monetary policy or domestic money market conditions. When MAS intervenes in the foreign exchange market by purchasing foreign currencies such as US dollars for Singapore dollars, it accumulates OFR.

An increase in MAS' OFR does not directly result in an equivalent increase in Singapore reserves. This is because the increase in OFR assets may be matched by increases in MAS' liabilities. For instance, when MAS purchases foreign assets whilst implementing monetary policy, the increase in OFR may be accompanied by increases in MAS' other liabilities, such as MAS Bills.

Trend of OFR accumulation

Over the 1980s to the 2000s, both factors highlighted above contributed significantly to appreciation pressures on the Singapore dollar, and therefore led to OFR accumulation. The Government used to run large fiscal surpluses which, together with SGS and SSGS issuance, led to a significant contraction of Singapore dollar liquidity.

However, in the last decade, it is large capital inflows that have chiefly contributed to the increase in OFR accumulation.

• With rising expenditures for healthcare, other social spending and infrastructure, the Government's fiscal surpluses and thus its deposits with MAS have declined significantly.

• However, there has been a significant increase in capital inflows into Singapore, reflecting exuberant liquidity conditions in global financial markets and confidence in Singapore. As a result, the Singapore dollar exchange rate has faced strong appreciation pressures, necessitating MAS to step up its intervention operations to prevent an undue strengthening of our domestic currency.

Transfer of OFR to Government

Since 1981 when GIC was set up, MAS has been making periodic transfers, to the Government, of OFR that has been in excess of what it needed to conduct monetary policy and ensure financial stability.

This has enabled the Government to invest foreign reserves through GIC on a longer-term basis while still ensuring that MAS has sufficient OFR to carry out its mandate.

Reserves Management Government Securities (RMGS)

On 11 January 2022, Parliament passed the MAS (Amendment) Bill which enables MAS to subscribe for Reserves Management Government Securities (RMGS) issued by the Government. In exchange, MAS will transfer OFR that are in excess of what it needs to conduct monetary policy and ensure financial stability (or "excess OFR" for short) to the Government.

The amendment to the MAS Act does not change in any way how MAS accumulates OFR. Neither does it change the principles on which excess OFR is transferred from MAS to the Government, nor create new domestic money supply in the process.

Previously, these transfers of OFR were accompanied by a drawdown of Government deposits with MAS.

• As reflected on MAS' balance sheet, this involves a reduction in both its assets and liabilities, with no change in MAS' net assets: in exchange for the OFR that MAS transfers to Government (i.e. a reduction of MAS assets), the Government draws down its deposits with MAS (i.e. a reduction in MAS liabilities).

• This transfer mechanism worked as long as the Government ran sizeable fiscal surpluses, contributing to significant deposits with MAS. With the decline in government fiscal surpluses and deposits with MAS, a new mechanism is needed to enable the transfer of excess OFR from MAS to the Government.

Hence the issuance of RMGS by the Government to MAS in exchange for OFR.

• As reflected on MAS' balance sheet, this leads to a replacement of one form of assets for another. The transferred foreign currency assets (OFR) will be replaced by a domestic asset that is a claim on the Government (RMGS).

RMGS is not money creation or quantitative easing

There is no new money creation arising from the purchase of RMGS by MAS.

• "Monetary financing" of governments typically happens when central banks purchase government securities on the primary market and credit the proceeds to the government, i.e. the central bank "prints money" to help fund the government budget.

• MAS’ purchase of RMGS is fundamentally different. It does not involve MAS creating Singapore dollars to give to the Government to spend. Instead, MAS is transferring excess OFR - its foreign currency assets - to the Government. In fact, the legislation allows MAS to transfer only foreign currency assets to the Government in exchange for RMGS. This eliminates the possibility of MAS creating Singapore dollars to finance government spending.

MAS' subscription to RMGS is also not a form of "quantitative easing".

• In some advanced economies, quantitative easing (QE) consists of the purchase of securities - including government securities - in the secondary market by the central bank, leading to an expansion of commercial banks' deposit balances with the central bank. This represents an increase in the monetary base which supports the creation of new money. But MAS' subscription to RMGS is not a transaction with commercial banks. It does not expand the banks' balances with MAS. In fact, the size of MAS' balance sheet does not change when it subscribes to RMGS. There is only a shift in the composition of its assets as explained above.

Government Debt

A country's debt position is commonly measured by its gross debt-to-GDP ratio, which compares a country's public debt to its economic output. While Singapore's gross debt-to-GDP ratio may appear large on its own, it does not consider Singapore's sizeable asset position. Looking at the liabilities (i.e. debts) alone does not discriminate between two countries with the same level of debt but with very different levels of assets.

In fact, the Singapore Government has a strong balance sheet with no net debt. Our financial assets are well in excess of our debt. This net asset position is reflected in the net investment returns generated on our reserves, which is made available for Government spending via the Net Investment Returns Contribution. In addition, our strong balance sheet explains why Singapore receives the top credit rating of AAA from the three leading international credit-rating agencies (S&P, Moody's, and Fitch).

Our top credit ratings reflect the following:

1. Majority of the Singapore Government borrowings are for non-spending purposes. Under the Government Securities (Debt Market and Investment) Act 1992, the Singapore Government cannot spend the monies raised from Singapore Government Securities (SGS) (Market Development) and Treasury Bills (T-bills), Special Singapore Government Securities (SSGS), Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB), and Reserves Management Government Securities (RMGS). SGS (Market Development) and Treasury Bills (T-bills) are issued to develop the domestic debt market and SSGS are bonds issued to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board with full Government guarantee. SSB are issued to provide individual investors with a long-term saving option. RMGS are issued to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for the sole purpose of facilitating the transfer of excess Official Foreign Reserves (OFR) not needed by MAS, to the Government for longer-term investment by GIC.

2. All SGS (Market Development), T-bills, SSGS, SSB, and RMGS borrowing proceeds are invested. The investment returns are more than sufficient to cover the debt servicing costs.

3. Only a small proportion of Government borrowings is for spending purposes, under the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act (SINGA). Under SINGA, the Government borrows to finance and capitalise nationally significant infrastructure such as the construction of new MRT lines (e.g. Cross Island Line) , and there are strict safeguards under the SINGA to ensure prudence in borrowing. SGS (Infrastructure) and Green SGS (Infrastructure) would be issued under the SINGA.

A key principle underlying Singapore's long-term budgetary objectives is to maintain a balanced budget over the course of a term of Government. This is a prudent approach to fiscal policy that is enshrined in Singapore’s constitution.

Borrowing Types

The Singapore Government does not borrow for recurrent spending needs. Instead, the Government issues debt to meet specific long-term objectives:

Read more information on Government borrowings.