About the Monthly Statistical Bulletin
The Monthly Statistical Bulletin (MSB) provides key monetary and banking statistics to inform market participants, analysts and the wider public of the latest financial sector developments in Singapore. Click here (351.2 KB) for charts showing the latest trends in monetary and financial developments.
Data on exchange and interest rates, yields and prices of Singapore Government Securities (SGS) are available for download from Other Financial Statistics section.
Notes to statistical tables
Due to rounding, the sum of separate items may differ from the totals shown.
Abbreviations and Symbols
P : preliminary
r : revised
.. : negligible
- : nil
n.a. : not available
DBUs : Domestic Banking Units
ACUs : Asian Currency Units
S$NCD : Singapore dollar negotiable certificates of deposit
SIBOR : Singapore inter-bank offered rate
REPO : Repurchase agreement
T-Bill : Treasury bills
SGS : Singapore Government Securities
SGX-ST : Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd
SGX-DT : Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading Ltd
Glossary
Charge card / Credit card: means any article, whether in physical or electronic form, of a kind commonly known as a credit card or charge card or any similar article intended for use in purchasing goods or services on credit, whether or not the card is valid for immediate use.
Credit card rollover balance: refer to the balance that is subject to interest charges because it is not settled within the 'free credit' period. This includes the minimum payment not settled by due date as well as the amount that is rolled over after settlement of the minimum sum.
Demand deposits: (sight deposits or call deposits) refer to deposits that are payable on demand or without notice, other than savings deposits and include:
• Current accounts (in any currency)
• Unclaimed balances on current accounts
• Unclaimed deposits (including unclaimed fixed and savings deposits)
• Deposits at call without notice including overnight money.
Equities: refer to contracts related to an equity or equity index financial instrument or whose cash flows are determined by reference to the performance of an equity, portfolio of equities or an equity market index. Examples of contracts under this category include equity options, convertible securities, equity index swaps, exchange-traded options as well as futures contracts on equity indices.
Fixed deposits: (time deposits) cover deposits in all currencies for a fixed period at a fixed rate of interest and which cannot be withdrawn by cheques. Included are deposits at call with notice. Overdue fixed deposits as distinct from unclaimed fixed deposits are to be classified under this item.
Gross premium: refers to gross premiums received or receivable including portfolio premiums, after deduction of discounts and return premiums, which have been entered in the books of the registered insurer during the period. Commissions shall not be deducted from gross premium.
Liquidity ratio: (Please refer to MAS Notice 613 Appendix 2)
Net premium: refers to the net amount of premiums after deduction of return premiums and payments in respect of reinsurance business ceded.
Other deposits: refer to all other deposits not specifically covered above, including margins received for guarantees, letters of credit issued, open contracts and sundry deposits of customers.
Reserves: Statutory reserves refer to those in the reserve fund maintained under section 22 of the Banking Act. Other reserves include any other reserves appropriated out of profits and accumulated over the years that are not designed to meet any known liability, contingency, commitment or diminution in value of assets. These exclude amounts set aside for specific uses like provisions for bad and doubtful debts, taxation, retirement benefits, or fees.
Savings deposits: (savings accounts) cover deposits payable on demand or by notice. Such deposits cannot be withdrawn by cheques.
Single premium: refers to the premium for covering periods in excess of one year. Hence, single premiums paid in respect of insurance contracts of less than one year, for example, travel insurance shall be classified as ‘‘Regular Premiums’’.
Statutory liquid assets: Liquid assets comprise the following items:
a. Notes and coins which are customary tender in Singapore.
b. Singapore Government Securities ("SGS") held by a bank. Includes SGS held under a reverse repurchase agreement.
c. Debt securities or sukuk denominated in SGD -
(i) issued by a statutory board in Singapore, with a minimum issue size of SGD 200 million, at 90% of its value; or
(ii) with a minimum issue size of SGD 200 million which satisfies either the long term issue or short term issue credit ratings and at the relevant value set out in Appendix 4, and held by a bank and includes any such debt securities or sukuk held under a reverse repurchase agreement1;
d. Any bill of exchange which satisfies the requirements set out in Appendix 3;
provided always that -
(i) the asset shall be free from any prior encumbrances;
(ii) where the asset is a debt security or sukuk, it shall not be a convertible debt security or sukuk and if the bank holds more than 20% of the total market of a particular issue of debt securities or sukuk (including issues from different tranches), the bank shall only treat as liquid assets, 50% of the value of those debt securities or sukuk;
(iii) the asset does not arise or result from any contractual or other arrangements with, or investments in, a counterparty related to the bank2.
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1 For the avoidance of doubt, where an issue of such debt securities or sukuk is partially redeemed such that the outstanding issue size falls below SGD200m, those debt securities or sukuk would no longer be approved as liquid assets.
2 A counterparty related to a bank includes any holding company, subsidiary or associated company of the bank and any subsidiary or associated company of any holding company of the bank.
Notes to the statistics
Following DBS' acquisition of POSBank in November 1998, POSBank was included as part of the banking system. This has resulted in a break in the money supply, bank credit and deposit series. In view of the numerous requests for data incorporating POSBank in the months before the merger, we have created these series for reference here (XLS (13.5 KB)), (PDF (27.4 KB)). Please note that these series, which extend from November 1997 to October 1998, are for the purpose of providing a consistent base for the analysis of year-on-year growth in money supply, bank credit and deposit, and are distinct from the actual series provided in the MSB.
Details of how POSBank was incorporated in the banking system were provided in the December 1998 edition of the Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Please refer to "Monetary and Financial Developments" here (PDF ()).
The M3 series has been revised to include POSBank's fixed deposits with MAS. The revised historical data for M3 (XLS (21.6 KB)), (PDF (108.4 KB)) extends back to October 1982. For details of this revision, please refer to the January 1999 issue of the Monthly Statistical Bulletin – “Money Supply Compilation and Revisions” here (PDF ()).