Singapore central bank enhancing banking system's liquidity during pandemic

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's central bank announced new measures on Thursday to enhance the banking system's access to Singapore dollar (SGD) and U.S. dollar (USD) funding to bolster the sector's resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These include the establishment of a new term facility to provide banks and finance companies an additional channel to borrow SGD funds at longer tenors and with more forms of collateral, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said.

Jacqueline Loh, MAS' deputy managing director said that since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, MAS has introduced three new liquidity facilities and also significantly expanded the types of collateral accepted at these facilities.

"Taken together, these enhancements to MAS' suite of liquidity facilities will fortify the resilience of the banking sector and financial markets in Singapore, and enable our banks to continue to support the needs of businesses and individuals here, and in the region through the crisis," she said.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing by Tom Hogue)