MAS and Temasek publish the size of the funds they manage. As of 31 March 2021, the Official Foreign Reserves managed by MAS was S$510 billion and the size of Temasek’s net portfolio value was S$381 billion.
It is the size of the Government’s funds managed by GIC that is not published. What has been revealed is that GIC manages well over US$100 billion. Revealing the exact size of assets that GIC manages will, taken together with the published assets of MAS and Temasek, amount to publishing the full size of Singapore’s financial reserves.
It is not in our national interest to publish the full size of our reserves. If we do so, it will make it easier for markets to mount speculative attacks on the Singapore dollar during periods of vulnerability.
Further, our reserves are a strategic asset, and especially so for a small country with no natural resources or other assets. They are a key defence for Singapore in times of crisis, and it will be unwise to reveal the full and exact resources at our disposal.