Singapore household debt soared to 77.2% of GDP

Yahoo! Finance Singapore, 17 Jul 2013
"Domestically, household debt increased to 77.2% of GDP as of March 2013 from 64.4% at end-2007.
For the same time period, prices for private property grew 1.2 times and prices for Housing Development Board (HDB) real estate 1.7 times. Regionally, we observe similar or even more dramatic trends.
With the potential risk of a turn in the interest rate cycle, we view strong asset inflation and credit growth trends as vulnerabilities, as this combination would likely cause credit costs to rise from their current low base. If interest rates rise, we therefore expect rising credit costs to outweigh any potential increases in lending margins."   Full story

OPINION: All is not well for Singapore stock market - Chua Chin Leng

My Singapore News, 21 Dec 2012
It is reported, finally, in the ST that all is not well in the stock market. For a particular month, many remisiers were earning less than $1000 in commission. This is nothing better than the cleaners in the foodcourt. And in a normal month, many are raking less than $2000. What are the implications?
It is not simply a dying profession for the remisiers. The broking houses need the commission to pay its staff or they too will have to close shop. The green eye monster has done its job well to kill this industry that once was a roaring business and supporting many other businesses in one way or another. The drastic changes in turning a stock market into a casino drove the final nail into the coffin.
The volume of trading appears to be high but simply fictitious in a way, generated by computers for brokerages or trading houses, house trades that bear no commission. The real participation of traders, retail and institutions too is dwindling and drying up. Full story