MAS strikes upbeat tone amid trade tensions

(Oct 10): Global economic risks may have risen but there’s no need to overreact just yet, said Singapore’s central bank chief Ravi Menon.

“Dark clouds are an appropriate phrase but it’s not raining yet,” Menon, managing director at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. “I don’t want to paint too glossy a picture on it but I don’t think we should overreact.”

Menon struck a relatively upbeat outlook for the world economy, cutting through the gloom that’s followed escalating trade tensions between the US and China, among Singapore’s largest trading partners, and a global emerging-market rout. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its global growth forecast for the first time in more than two years, while early indicators already show a possible slide in manufacturing.

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