Singapore dollar

Singapore dollar
Singapore dollar (English) Dolar/ Ringgit Singapura (Malay) 新加坡元 / 新币 (Chinese) சிங்கப்பூர் வெள்ளி (Tamil)
$2 polymer banknote obverse
ISO 4217
Code	SGD
Number	702
Exponent	2
Denominations
Subunit
1/100	cent
Symbol	S$ or $
Nickname	Sing
Banknotes
Freq. used	$2, $5, $10, $50, $100, $1,000
Rarely used	$10,000
Coins
Freq. used	5, 10, 20, 50 cents, $1
Rarely used	1 cent
Demographics
User(s)	Singapore  Brunei (alongside the Brunei dollar)
Issuance
Monetary authority	Monetary Authority of Singapore
Website	www.mas.gov.sg
Mint	Singapore Mint
Website	www.singaporemint.com
Valuation
Inflation	-0.3% at March 2015
Pegged by	Brunei dollar at par

The Singapore dollar (Malay: Ringgit Singapura, sign: $; code: SGD) is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam (Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam) still maintain the historic exchangeability of their two currencies, the Singapore dollar and the Brunei dollar, respectively. The Singapore dollar is accepted as "customary tender" in Brunei according to the Currency Interchangeability Agreement. Likewise, the Brunei dollar is customarily accepted in Singapore.

Between 1845 and 1939, Singapore used the Straits dollar. This was replaced by the Malayan dollar, and, from 1953, the Malaya and British Borneo dollar, which were issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo.

Singapore continued to use the common currency upon joining Malaysia in 1963, but only two years after Singapore's expulsion and independence from Malaysia in 1965, the monetary union between Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei broke down. Singapore established the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, on 7 April 1967 and issued its first coins and notes. Nevertheless, the Singapore dollar was exchangeable at par with the Malaysian ringgit until 1973, and interchangeability with the Brunei dollar is still maintained.

Initially, the Singapore dollar was pegged to the British pound sterling at a rate of S$60 = £7. This peg lasted until the demise of the Sterling Area due to the Nixon Shock in the early 1970s, after which the Singapore dollar was linked to the US dollar for a short time. As Singapore's economy grew and its trade links diversified to many other countries and regions, Singapore moved towards pegging its currency against a fixed and undisclosed trade-weighted basket of currencies from 1973 to 1985.