Singapore

Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. Singapore subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Singapore dollar (ISO code: SGD)
 * Central bank discount rate:
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 5.38% (31 December 2009 est.)
 * Stock of money (M1): $52.57 billion (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $179 billion (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1982
 * Years in inflation: 2.2% (share of years 1965-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)

Links

 * Singapore on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Singapore
 * Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
 * BBC country profile