Selected Issues Papers

Singapore has addressed high inflation over the past years amid a tight labor market through several rounds of tightening of the exchange rate-based monetary policy. This paper estimates the exchange pass-through to inflation in Singapore with a particular focus on the role of labor market conditions. The paper first finds a strong exchange rate pass-through to inflation in Singapore, after accounting for the potential endogeneity of changes in the exchange rate. Further, it uncovers that labor market tightness dampens exchange rate pass-through and therefore could weaken monetary policy transmission. Overall, the results suggest that monetary policy should be more vigilant under a tight labor market condition. The paper then draws policy implications for taming inflation under tight labor market conditions.