Based on findings from a survey backed by MasterCard and SMU, Singapore households had lower inflation expectations in March compared with December last year. Dr Aurobindo Ghosh, Programme Director at SMU's Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics said: "Given the downward trend in the Singapore Inflation Expectations Index, albeit nascent, we are cautiously optimistic that the public's perception on inflation expectations is a good reflection of a more positive IMF World Economic Outlook".
Professor Jeremy Goh, Director of SMU's Centre for Corporate and Investor Responsibility at the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics said, “Retail investors are definitely getting more financially savvy,” so it is not surprising that they are taking a more active role in Annual General Meetings. He added, ''It will be nice, if their schedule permits... for companies to hold their AGMs in the evening or over the weekend.”
A financial literacy programme for young adults was jointly launched by Citi Singapore and SMU yesterday. The Citi-SMU programme, set to commence in 2013, aims to equip people between 17 and 30 with personal financial knowledge and skills appropriate to their life stage, forming a foundation for better money management. Participants can look forward to lectures and workshops by Citi guest speakers, as well as training sessions by SMU faculty members and select SMU students. Professor De Meyer said “with the new financial literacy programme, our students can also use what they have learnt, to reach out to the young adult community in Singapore, with the focus of reaching those with lower income.”
SMU and Citi Singapore will launch a programme to teach young adults about finance and money management early next year. SMU will develop the curriculum and train selected students to teach. Associate Professor of Finance Jeremy Goh said, “They will conduct financial literacy outreach programmes... to reach out to the wider community, especially those from lower income families.”
Managing inflation expectations is likely to become a sharper focus of policymakers, even as attention this week centres on what Singapore's central bank will do to rein in current price pressures. 'If inflation is expected to be higher in the future, employees may demand higher nominal wages to offset the increasing cost of living and companies may be inclined to increase prices to offset the increasing cost of production,' said Aurobindo Ghosh, programme director at the [SMU] Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics. Dr Ghosh is co-creator of the Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx), which tracks how the public's perception of prices in Singapore changes.
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