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Local residents' predictions for the overall inflation rate for the next year have declined for three consecutive quarters. According to the Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx) Survey jointly published by DBS Group and SMU’s Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI), in March this year, local residents' predictions for the overall inflation rate for the next year decreased from 4.2% in December last year to 4%, although the decline has slowed down.

In 2012, Citi Singapore and SMU jointly launched Singapore’s first structured financial literacy programme for young adults, recognising the need for young adults to learn how to take control of their finances. In an interview, SMU Assistant Professor of Finance (Education) Aurobindo Ghosh, who is the Programme Director of the Citi Foundation-SMU Financial Literacy Programme for Young Adults, and SMU student and President of the Citi Foundation-SMU Financial Literacy Club Christopher Yap Jun Hao discussed and shared their insights on the financial literacy of young adults in Singapore.

Speaking as a panellist at the CNA Leadership Summit on Thursday (22 April) in Singapore, SMU Professor of Finance (Practice) Dave Fernandez, Director of SMU’s Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics and Co-Director at the Singapore Green Finance Centre said, “If you look at our region, we still have a lot more work to do. We have to create a situation where the damage that you were doing by doing certain activities, the focus, clearly being on greenhouse gas emissions needs to have a price above zero." He added, "The question here in Asia is – are the companies ready? Are we going to miss that wave of global finance that’s flowing to the companies that have said, we’re going to embrace this ahead of any government regulations that come in? I think that’s the real challenge, because the money is going to be coming whether or not Asian companies are ready.”

Commenting on the unemployment rate in India, Rajiv Lall, Professorial Research Fellow at the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics said, "We have always struggled with jobs. Job creation has overwhelmingly been in the informal sector. That means income inequality is a huge challenge."

The Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) at SMU recently organised its first Asia Pacific Financial Education Institute. Diwa C. Guinigundo, SKBI Advisory Board member and former Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas –  a keynote speaker at the event – summarised the key takeaways and insights on the topic of financial literacy that were presented and discussed during the event.

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[Feature Photo: SKB Institute Director, Prof Dave Fernandez spoke at the Chief China Economist Forum in Shanghai held on 5-6 January 2019.]

SKB Institute Director, Prof Dave Fernandez, spoke at the Chief China Economist Forum in Shanghai held on 5-6 January 2019. The forum brings together annually the Chief China Economists from across the financial sector to discuss the most important issues facing the Mainland, with this year's conference titled, "Facing the Challenges: China's Choice in the Superpower Game." As the title suggests, much of the focus was on China-US trade relations where many participants were hopeful of a "ceasefire" between the two countries during 1Q. Nevertheless, most economists expect depreciation pressure on the CNY early in the year, though the consensus was that USDCNY would be below 7 by the end of 2019.
 

Prof Dave spoke on "The Impossible Trinity and China's New Balance of Payments." In his remarks, he noted that the "trilemma" framework where countries cannot simultaneously pursue fixed exchange rates, open capital flows, and independent monetary policy, still afforded China's policymakers sufficient flexibility to pursue multiple policy goals. However, in bouts of global risk aversion, emerging markets that run current account deficits have come under considerable pressure, which is likely the BoP situation that China will face this year.