This Central Bank Doesn't Set Interest Rates

When Singapore's central bank announces its monetary policy decision, it talks about currency bands, widths, slopes and centers. Other central banks use more straightforward language that says they are cutting or raising interest rates.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore uses the country's exchange rate as its main monetary policy tool, the only major economy in the world to do so. It manages the Singapore dollar against an undisclosed basket of currencies of its major trading partners and competitors, intervening when needed to keep the exchange rate within an unspecified policy band. It adjusts the pace of appreciation or depreciation of the local dollar by changing the slope, width and center of that band.