SINGAPORE'S FOREIGN CURRENCY RESERVES (Safeguard against loss through international money crisis)

Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for Finance, in view of the present international monetary crisis, how much of Singapore's foreign currency reserves will be affected adversely, and what steps he is or will be taking as a safeguard against any eventual loss.

The Minister of State for Finance (Mr Tang See Chim) (for the Minister for Finance): Sir, I would like to assure the Member for Punggol that steps to safeguard Singapore's external reserves, including the external reserves backing for the Singapore dollar, were taken even before the present crisis occurred. We have for some time followed a policy of diversifying our reserves into assets denominated in various currencies.

Since U.S, dollars are not a major component of our external reserves, our calculations show that we will not suffer a loss and that we shall be able to maintain the total value of our external assets expressed in Singapore dollars, or even show a slight profit.