MAS Extends USD Swap Arrangement
The swap arrangement was established with U.S. Federal Reserve Bank last year, as part of coordinated central bank actions to ease strains in global USD funding markets as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is further extending its $60 billion U.S. dollar liquidity arrangement with the Federal Reserve Bank, along with the MAS USD Facility provides backstop funding to banks to support USD lending to businesses in Singapore and the region, until the end of the year, it announced on Thursday.
Since its launch in March 2020, the MAS USD Facility has provided about $25 billion to banks, for use in Singapore and the region, allocated through weekly auctions.
Important Role
MAS said such backstops play an important role in supporting stable global USD funding conditions, given the certainty provided to market participants that USD funding will remain available to meet their needs.
«As an international financial centre, Singapore plays a key role in intermediating cross-border USD funding within Asia,» MAS said in the announcement.
