Past week I saw more than one article on the appreciation of Sing dollar.. Here's one of it in today's straits times :
Goldman upbeat on Singdollar
THE Singapore dollar is expected to strengthen to $1.18 against the US dollar over the next 12 months, said a strategist from Goldman Sachs.
It is currently trading at about $1.22 per US dollar.
The investment bank is also bullish on the Singdollar over the longer term. It expects the local currency to hit $1.15 to the greenback between 2014 and 2016.
Goldman's Asean economist Mark Tan said the Monetary Authority of Singapore recently raised the Singdollar's pace of appreciation on a trade-weighted basis to about 3 per cent.
He expects this "default pace of appreciation" to remain in the face of the "new normal" of slower growth and high inflation.
In terms of equities, Goldman has upgraded the Singapore market to overweight, with a target of 3,500 points for the Straits Times Index at end-2013.
"We see it as an attractive way to trade the Asean growth story, given its linkages with the fast- growing Asean emerging economies, developed market infrastructure and compelling valuations," he added at a press briefing yesterday.
After a difficult 2012 weighed down by sluggish external demand and policy uncertainty, Goldman expects Asian economies excluding Japan to post healthy growth against a brighter global backdrop.
Three positive forces form the basis of this bullish expectation, said Goldman's chief Asia-Pacific economist Andrew Tilton.
Oil supply is expected to pick up, owing to technological progress in extraction, mainly oil shale, which will relieve oil price pressures.
The United States will likely notch up meaningful economic growth, fuelled by the Federal Reserve's stimulative policies.
And Europe is expected to continue to muddle through without any major disaster while policymakers take action to reduce risks in that region.
"These conditions create a much more favourable backdrop. We expect 2013 to be a transition year on the road to a much brighter medium-term outlook globally," he said in a recent report.
By 2014, the region should grow at or above "trend" growth, with China's growth a little over 8 per cent, India's rising to 7.2 per cent, Asean nearly 6 per cent and Taiwan and South Korea to nearly 4 per cent.
While inflation is a concern, given the relatively strong growth in the region, he expects it to remain "broadly under control" given the optimistic outlook for oil prices and expectations that currencies are going to appreciate.
Link to article: http://www.cpf.gov.sg/imsavvy/infohub_article.asp?readid={1027881786-15290-1712762713}