Recent broad-based weakness in the U.S. dollar has given the Singapore dollar some support after coronavirus fears lead to a sharp selloff last month. While the USDSGD has dropped almost 2% since its Feb 20 spike, we estimate that this SGD strength has come almost entirely from the strength in the currency basket against which the Monetary Authority of Singapore manages the currency.
SGD Distance From Midpoint of the MAS' Currency Basket
Source: Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley
As the chart above shows, the currency remains below the midpoint of the estimate of the MAS's policy band,