Singapore is a rich country.

Monetary Authority of Singapore data showed that Singapore's official foreign reserves rose about US$6.1 billion monthly to about US$252.7 billion as at the end of January 2017, en...

(08-02-2017, 07:41 AM)soros Wrote: Monetary Authority of Singapore data showed that Singapore's official foreign reserves rose about US$6.1 billion monthly to about US$252.7 billion as at the end of January 2017, en...

hi soros,
Would appreciate if you would add the relevant link and complete the statements accordingly.

Moderator

I don't know what is your intention in publishing this, but I note that Singapore's import bill is about USD25 billion a month or US$300 billion a year (obviously we import nearly everything we consume physically). So $252 billion is less than one year of imports.

China managed to run down its foreign reserves from $4 trillion to $3 trillion within 2 years just defending the yuan. China's annual import bill is roughly 2 trillion annually (much of it to feed its export machine). Really, if its imports stopped suddenly (or its reserves magically disappeared), it can still somehow survive this doomsday scenario. Can Singapore?

A big number is not a big number until it is scaled appropriately against a reference.

Actually Singapore is a net exporter which contributes to her foreign reserve accumulation. But that is also why a trade slowdown will hurt us most. Big countries with abundant land, natural resources and labour naturally depends less on trade. For all the talks about US being net importer, not forgetting they can print USD which is reserve currency, their imports is about 15% GDP ($2.76T) and trade deficit of about 2.9% GDP ($530b). That is not to say the trade deficit is not a long term problem, but it is probably less urgent as it is mostly demand driven vs the US debt and budget deficit problem, which is fiscal driven.

https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-imports-a...cs-3306270

"The most prolific exporters in the world include Singapore at 188% of GDP in 2014; Ireland at 114%; United Arab Emirates at 98%; Malaysia at 74%; and Switzerland at 64%. The countries that export the least as a share of GDP include Brazil at 11%; Ethiopia at 12%; United States at 13%; Argentina at 15%; and Japan at 18%.

This information alone does not reveal whether any of these countries had a positive or negative trade balance. To calculate this, information regarding imports is also needed. In 2014, Brazil imported the least at 14% of GDP, followed by Argentina at 15%; United States at 17%; Japan at 21%; Ethiopia at 29%; Switzerland at 53%; Malaysia at 65%; United Arab Emirates at 78%; Ireland at 95%;, and Singapore at 163%.

Using this data, it can be determined that Singapore, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Switzerland were net exporters in 2014. Brazil, Ethiopia, United States and Japan were net importers, while Argentina was neutral.

Read more: Net Exports http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nete...z4Y4sq22W9"

(08-02-2017, 11:33 AM)weijian Wrote:

(08-02-2017, 07:41 AM)soros Wrote: Monetary Authority of Singapore data showed that Singapore's official foreign reserves rose about US$6.1 billion monthly to about US$252.7 billion as at the end of January 2017, en...

hi soros,
Would appreciate if you would add the relevant link and complete the statements accordingly.

Moderator

It was posted on aastocks.com   website :

http://www.aastocks.com/en/forex/news/co...783010&cur=

But you can also find same  info on the mas website :

 http://www.mas.gov.sg/Statistics/Reserve...erves.aspx

hi soros,
Thanks.

Moderator.

My point is that the quote of 252 billion of foreign reserves and then saying Singapore is a rich country is not meaningful.

Indeed, due to the fact that Singapore has very nearly no domestic output of its own, it needs a really big buffer for a rainy day.

(08-02-2017, 09:36 PM)tanjm Wrote: My point is that the quote of 252 billion of foreign reserves and then saying Singapore is a rich country is not meaningful.

Indeed, due to the fact that Singapore has very nearly no domestic output of its own, it needs a really big buffer for a rainy day.

I think we may need to separate between needs and being rich. You can say we need more $ to be safer but this is a separate topic.
But need doesn't mean you will be able to accumulate 252B.

With 5 664 322 Citizen and PR,  Singapore able to amass 252 B,  that is $44.5K per person.
China has 1,382,323,332 people which amount to  $2.17K per person only.

How about this logic ?  

Wealth is useless when you are poor politcally... i.e wealthy without power.

Terrex is a good demonstration, the haze is another...

Here is a website which places Singapore as the 3rd richest country in the world by GDP per capita whilst China, with the highest fx reserves, does not qualify :

http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-r...world.html