Of all currencies in Asia, the Singapore Dollar is by far the most popular. This currency has an ISO code of SGD, which when compared to the US Dollar has remained a relatively stable currency. Management of the Singapore Dollars is by the Monetary Authority of Singapore or MAS, which reviews and manages this currency to an undisclosed basket of trade-weighted currencies.
Interestingly, Singapore is actually a small economy, but one that is open. In fact, the Singapore exchange rate is the primary resource that helps keep pricing of this currency stable. While the currency has held its own specifically for trade-weighted terms, the only exception was during times when Singapore’s economy was struggling. To show how the Singapore Dollar has done, 10 years ago the exchange rate was between 1.63 and 1.83 to every $1 US Dollar.
Initially, the Singapore Dollar was introduced once Brunei and Malaysia’s monetary union was broken in 1965 although it can still be exchanged with the Brunei Dollar today. When the Singapore Dollar was first minted, it was supposed to be at a 60 to 7 ratio against the British Pound. Then in the early part of the 1970s, it was pegged against the United States Dollar but later ended up in the basket of undisclosed foreign currencies.
Again, the Singapore Dollar remains highly popular throughout Asia since it has remained stable. Some of the other features of this particular currency that people appreciate include the Singapore Dollar being freely convertible. Additionally, the value of this currency depends on the market. With the Singapore Dollar being a part of the float system, it actually benefited the country during the financial crisis. Because of that, the Singapore Dollar was soon chosen as the currency for other Asian countries.
Another reason the Singapore Dollar has remained popular is that the revenue that comes from this exchange rate is based primarily on international trade. This means the country has been able to keep foreign exchange rates lenient, meaning there are no restrictions specific to both import and export, regardless of the currency. Since the exchange rate of the Singapore Dollar was relatively high in 2000, it did see some change in 2003 when numbers ranged between 1.5 and 1.8 per every $1 US Dollar.
From 2003 to 2008, the exchange rate for the Singapore Dollar has remained solid, fluctuating from a low of 1.48 in 2008 to a high of 1.75 in 2003. Considering that the world has been experiencing an economic crisis, it would be expected to see even a strong currency such as the Singapore Dollar have some downward turn but even this has only been slight.
While some weakening of the Singapore Dollar was seen last year, because of regional prices declining and market assets not being as great in demand. Even so, this currency has continued to be strong, especially when looking at the devastation that other currencies have seen.
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