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Singapore consumers are expecting inflation to continue to fall amid global declines and uncertainty around the weak global economic
outlook.
This is according to the latest findings of the SKBI-MasterCard Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx).

Singapore consumers continue to expect inflation to edge downwards, said the latest SKBI-MasterCard Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations report – produced by the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at SMU (SKBI) and sponsored by MasterCard. Responses from a representative sample of 400 local consumers polled online in March produced a composite index showing that the general public expects inflation of 4.26 per cent for the year ahead, down from 4.4 per cent in December last year. Consumer expectations of headline inflation fell to 4.12 per cent – the lowest expected level since the survey's launch in September 2011 – from 4.37 per cent a quarter earlier. Core inflation, which strips out accommodation and private road transport costs, is also expected to fall to 4.32 per cent, from expectations of 4.44 per cent in December, said the report. SKBI Programme Director and co-creator of the survey, Aurobindo Ghosh said, "Given that the medium-term expectations are fairly anchored, we will not see huge fluctuations in average inflation expectations but possibly an increase due to increased uncertainty in the global financial system."

Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, Deborah Ralston, shared the findings of the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI) 2012 at the SMU Centre for Silver Security. The index ranked Singapore 13^th among the 18 countries studied and gave its pension scheme a ‘C’ grade. The index assesses a pension system on three fronts: adequacy (what do you get out of the system), sustainability (can the system keep delivering) and integrity (can you trust the system).

Online polls of more than 500 Singaporeans in February showed that the public here had expected an inflation rate of 4.55 per cent. However, their expectations fell to 4 per cent when polled again in May. Singapore does not compile official inflation expectations of households, but these results were broadly in line with those of the SKBI-MasterCard Singapore Inflation Expectations Index (SinDEx).

According to the latest findings of the SKBI-MasterCard Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx), jointly developed by SMU and MasterCard, Singapore consumers think that prices of goods and services will rise more slowly over the next one to five years. They also think that core inflation a year from now will reach a new survey low of 4.05 per cent, down from the 4.32 per cent they estimated in March. Core inflation excludes accommodation and private transport costs.

Consumers in Singapore expect inflation for the year ahead to go down by another notch amid bleaker global economic cues, said the latest SKBI-MasterCard Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx) report. The online poll of 400 randomly selected individuals in June showed that consumers expect a headline inflation rate of 3.91 per cent for the year ahead, down from the previous survey's 4.12 per cent in March. Better-than-expected labour and housing market reports in the US point to an earlier tapering of the Federal Reserve's stimulus spending, which may put upward pressure on interest rates, said SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for  Financial Economics (SKBI) Programme Director and co-creator of the SInDEx, Aurobindo Ghosh. That people are expecting an end to what has been an unprecedented period of very low interest rates which could also have been signalled by the report's composite index of what inflation might be like in five years' time. This fell to 4.68 per cent, its lowest level since the start of the survey, Dr Ghosh said. "Furthermore, Singapore is facing a weakening impact of imported inflation owing to a cyclical slowdown of some of the Asean economies, as well as regional economies like China and India," he added.

According to the latest findings of the Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx), which was jointly developed by SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) and MasterCard, Singapore consumers are expecting inflation to continue on a downward trend in the next one to five years amid slowdown in big emerging economies like China and Brazil and persistent weakness in the Eurozone. The finding is derived from an online survey of around 400 randomly selected individuals from Singapore households, and helps researchers understand the behaviour and sentiments of decision makers in Singapore households.

Nursing home care is certainly not cheap. Speaking to Perspectives@SMU at a recent CSS Conference, Retirement Readiness: Income adequacy, long-term care and social well-being, Mitchell delivered the bombshell: Nursing home care in the U.S. can cost up to US$100,000 a year.

According to the latest findings of the SKBI-MasterCard Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx), Singapore consumers are expecting inflation to continue on a downward trend in the next one to five years amid slowdown in big emerging economies like China and Brazil and persistent weakness in the Eurozone. SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) Programme Director and co-creator of the SInDEx, Dr Aurobindo Ghosh, added that macro-prudential policies like cooling measures for the property market and curbs on financing on private transportation, and gradual emphasis on individual deleveraging, seem to have an impact on the public's perception of overall inflation expectations.