INVESTMENT OF OFFICIAL RESERVES

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Finance (a) which institutions control and invest the official reserves of Singapore and in what proportion and (b) which institutions are the star performers.

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: Singapore's official reserves are managed largely by The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Temasek Holdings (TH) and Singapore Technologies Holdings (STH). GIC is the Government's principal investment agent and it handles the bulk of the Government's investments. TH and STH are holding companies which own and manage the Government's shareholdings in Government linked companies (GLCs). The Monetary Authority of Singapore also holds major currencies in reserve for the defence of the Singapore dollar, if required.

GIC's investments are carried out overseas. Temasek's investments are very diversified in nature and include both local and overseas investments. STH's investments are mainly in the defence related industry. Ranking the performance of these institutions would not be meaningful as they perform different functions and their investments differ by types and geographical distribution. I would, however, like to inform the Member that these institutions have been performing well in their investments.