SINGAPORE - Weeks before former GIC investment chief Ng Kok Song announced his decision to contest in the upcoming presidential election, there had been chatter on the ground that an “establishment candidate” would soon emerge.
I do not know for sure, but I think I can qualify to be the second candidate so that, at least, the people of Singapore say: “Okay, there are two candidates to choose from.”On why Singapore is so secretive about the size of its reserves After the war, they also spent maybe US$40 billion or US$50 billion to reconstruct the country. So that’s one example of what I refer to as financial defence.
So what is the reason for the strength of our currency? It is because Singapore saves money, and people know that we have an AAA credit rating because of the reserves that we have accumulated.In 1985, when I was in charge of the foreign exchange market operations at the Monetary Authority of Singapore , there was a speculative attack on the Singapore dollar because our economy was then in a recession.