Singapore’s MAS warns of ‘disastrous’ effect of trade conflicts

Menon: ‘There remains considerable uncertainty as to the actual policy changes in store.’ – Reuters

SINGAPORE: The global economy will face “disastrous consequences” if US protectionist measures proposed by incoming President Donald Trump prompt trade wars, the head of Singapore’s central bank said.

Some of the possible actions - such as rejecting a US-Pacific trade deal, extra taxes on US importers and labeling major trade partners as currency manipulators - “may well attract retaliatory measures,” Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said in a speech at a local conference yesterday.