MAS Managing Director (MD) Ravi Menon opened up the session for the 2021 PIIE-LKYSPP-MAS Joint Lecture on 2 November 2021, which also marked the start of the MAS Golden Jubilee Conference. MD introduced Mr Martin Wolf, the keynote speaker and highlighted the importance and timeliness in addressing the need for international cooperation in the provision and delivery of global public goods. 

Setting the stage for the main conference on 3 November 2021, MD Ravi Menon reflected on MAS achievements since its inception to date, having begun with narrow functions and gradually expanding to its current full-fledged central bank status. With a judicious blend of orthodoxy and unconventionality, Singapore has enjoyed steady growth while maintaining price stability over the past decades. MD thanked the local and international community for the strong partnerships MAS has enjoyed and hoped that the conference will help shed led light on important seminal issues in central banking and financial regulation.

MD Ravi Menon launched the 50th anniversary commemorative book, "A History of Money in Singapore”.

The book presents a journey of Singapore’s currency and monetary policy from pre-colonial times till present. The book also traces the impact of political and economic events and technological forces of money in Singapore.

Following the launch, the book authors - Dr Clement Liew, Director of heritage firm Signum Fidei, and Dr Peter Wilson, Adjunct Professor at the Singapore Management University, and Professor John Miksic, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Humanities of Nanyang Technological University and Emeritus Professor in Southeast Asian Studies of National University of Singapore, participated in a conversation on key aspects of the currency and monetary history of Singapore. Mr Timothy Auger, Editorial Consultant and Project Coordinator moderated the session.