Singapore Dollar (SGD): Overview, Currency Symbol & History

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The Singapore dollar (SGD) is the official currency of Singapore. It is written with the symbol S$, divided into 100 cents, and issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank. In forex markets the currency carries the ISO code SGD and is often called the “sing.” Its exchange-rate regime is unusual: MAS manages the Singapore dollar against an undisclosed basket of currencies instead of steering short-term interest rates. That choice affects how the SGD behaves against the US dollar and how traders read it.

What Is the Singapore Dollar (SGD)?

The Singapore dollar is legal tender in Singapore and the unit in which prices, wages, taxes and bank balances there are denominated. The three labels describe the same money:

• Singapore dollar is the currency’s name.
• SGD is the three-letter ISO 4217 code used by banks, brokers and payment systems.
• S$ is the symbol used on price tags and in writing. The “S” separates it from the US dollar and other currencies that also use “$”.

Coins come in 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and S$1. Banknotes have been issued in S$2, S$5, S$10, S$50, S$100, S$1,000 and S$10,000. MAS stopped issuing the S$10,000 note in 2014 and the S$1,000 note in 2021. Notes already in circulation remain legal tender.

How the Singapore Dollar Works

Issuance and backing

Singapore inherited a currency board tradition. Under that system, new notes and coins are issued only against foreign reserve assets. Singapore’s currency in circulation remains fully backed by external assets held by the issuing authority. The Board of Commissioners of Currency ran this role from 1967 until its 2002 merger into MAS, which now combines currency issuance with monetary policy and financial regulation.

The exchange-rate band

Most central banks set a policy interest rate. MAS instead uses the exchange rate as its main monetary tool. It tracks the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER), a trade-weighted average of the SGD against the currencies of Singapore’s main trading partners. MAS lets the S$NEER move within a policy band defined by three settings it does not publish as numbers:

1. Slope: the rate at which the band is allowed to appreciate or depreciate over time.
2. Width: how far the currency may move around the center before MAS steps in.
3. Center: the midpoint, which MAS can re-set.

When MAS wants tighter policy, for example to counter imported inflation, it can steepen the slope, move the center up, or both. A small, open economy that imports much of its food and energy feels price changes abroad quickly, and a stronger currency offsets part of them. MAS announces policy decisions in scheduled monetary policy statements, which it moved to a quarterly cycle in 2024.

Interpreting the Singapore dollar

Because MAS targets a basket, the SGD can move against the US dollar even when policy has not changed. If the US dollar strengthens broadly, USD/SGD can rise while the S$NEER stays inside its band. To judge whether MAS has acted, read its policy statement and the trade-weighted index, not a single pair.

History of the Singapore Dollar

Singapore was a British crown colony before and after the Japanese occupation in World War II. It joined Malaysia in 1963 and became independent in 1965. The Singapore dollar followed in 1967.

At first the SGD traded at par with the Malaysian ringgit, and the two were interchangeable until 1973. Singapore also linked its dollar to the British pound into the early 1970s and briefly to the US dollar. It then moved away from single-currency pegs toward the managed basket approach. In 1967 Singapore and Brunei signed a Currency Interchangeability Agreement. Under it the Singapore dollar and Brunei dollar are exchanged at par, and each is customarily accepted in the other country.

Why the Singapore Dollar Matters

For Singapore, the exchange rate is monetary policy. That makes the SGD one of the clearest examples of a central bank using a currency band instead of an interest rate to manage inflation and export competitiveness. Singapore also holds a AAA sovereign credit rating from Fitch. That rating applies to the government’s debt. It is not a rating of the currency itself, although strong public finances and large external reserves support confidence in the SGD.

For traders, the SGD is a liquid Asian currency that trades actively against the US dollar and regional currencies. Companies with Singapore operations often use hedging to manage SGD exposure, because revenue and costs can sit in different currencies.

Example: Reading and Converting USD/SGD

Hypothetical figures, for mechanics only.

Assume USD/SGD is quoted at 1.3500. That means 1 US dollar buys 1.35 Singapore dollars.

• USD to SGD: US$1,000 × 1.35 = S$1,350.
• SGD to USD: divide by the quote. S$1,000 ÷ 1.35 = US$740.74.
• Inverse quote (SGD/USD): 1 ÷ 1.35 ≈ 0.7407 US dollars per Singapore dollar.

Now assume a currency exchange office applies a 3% markup in each direction. A traveler converting US$1,000 gets about S$1,309.50 instead of S$1,350. Converting that S$1,309.50 back at a rate 3% worse than mid (1.3905) returns about US$941.75. Most of the gap comes from the two markups, not from any market move.

Pip value for a trader: USD/SGD is quoted to four decimals, so one pip is 0.0001. On a standard lot of 100,000 US dollars, one pip equals S$10. At the assumed rate of 1.3500, that is about US$7.41 per pip. Because the pip value is in SGD, its US dollar value changes as the rate moves. A position size calculator handles this conversion when you set risk per trade.

Limitations and Points Readers Confuse

• No published band: MAS does not disclose the slope, width or center in figures. Market estimates of the band are inferences, not official levels.
• Basket, not peg: the SGD is not fixed to the US dollar or any single currency, so “pegged to a basket” means a moving band, not a set rate.
• Liquidity and costs: USD/SGD trades less than the major pairs such as EUR/USD. Spreads can be wider, especially outside Asian trading hours. With leverage, a sudden move around a policy statement can push an account toward a margin call, and a stop-loss order may fill at a worse price than its trigger level.
• SGD vs. Brunei dollar: they trade at par, but they are separate currencies with separate issuers.

The Bottom Line

Traders, travelers and companies with Singapore operations need to understand how MAS steers the SGD through a trade-weighted band. Judge policy changes from MAS statements and the S$NEER rather than USD/SGD alone, and expect wider spreads than major pairs, especially outside Asian hours. Exchange office markups, not market moves, usually explain most of the loss on a round-trip conversion.