SINGAPORE trade minister said on Monday that a stronger Singapore dollar could have a dampening effect on the country's exports and that there was therefore a limit on how much the central bank could let the currency rise to fight inflation.

'We recognise that a strengthening Singapore dollar could have some restraining effect on exports in the short term,' Mr Lim Hng Kiang, minister for trade and industry and deputy chairman of Singapore's central bank, told parliament.

'There is therefore a limit to how strongly the Singapore dollar can appreciate to offset the effects of global inflation passing through to the Singapore economy.' -- REUTERS