Singapore’s soaring currency, economy give Lawrence Wong plenty to smile about

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Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s current deputy prime minister and minister for finance, is set to succeed Lee Hsien Loong as the city state’s prime minister on May 15. Wong will inherit a currency that has risen 40% against its major trading partners over the past two decades. Under Lee Hsien Loong, the economy has doubled in size and total assets under management have climbed to US$3.6 trillion. Total returns on Singapore government bonds have outpaced their global peers by around 16 percentage points. The city-state's stock market has outperformed the MSCI Asean Index by nearly 32 percentage points since Lee took office. However, more than half of the locally listed companies are trading below their book value, indicating a lack of high-growth firms in the small, mature economy. Wong may take steps to support local equities and increase incentives for listing companies in the Singapore market.