Singapore may need to implement more measures to rein in its property market should low interest rates and an economic recovery renew speculative purchases, the central bank said.
Demand for private homes has experienced “strong growth” and unchecked price gains may expose the property market to risks in the global economy, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its “Financial Stability Review” on Monday. There should be “close monitoring” of home prices and transactions, it said.
Asian policy makers from South Korea to Singapore are confronted with rising real-estate values, which threaten to mimic the US mortgage bubble that roiled the global economy.
Singapore has barred interest-only loans for some housing projects and stopped allowing developers to absorb interest payments for apartments that are still being built.
“Despite the lingering uncertainties in the domestic and global economy, domestic property market activity has taken on its own dynamic,” the central bank said. “The risk of a renewed escalation of speculative momentum cannot be discounted. The nature and timing of further measures, if deemed necessary, would have to be balanced against the still uncertain path of economic recovery.”
The government is releasing more land for sale in the first half of next year as part of measures to prevent excessive price swings in the property market. Home prices rose 15.8 percent in the third quarter, the most in 28 years, after dropping 25 percent in the previous four quarters.
Low borrowing costs and the city state’s recovery from its worst recession in more than four decades aided the rebound in home prices, the central bank said.
Singapore’s economy is forecast by the government to contract as much as 2.5 percent this year. GDP may expand 3 percent next year, the Straits Times reported on Monday, citing Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew (李光耀).
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS