Interest rates seen moving up as soon as Sept

Interest rates seen moving up as soon as Sept

    By Toni Waterman
    POSTED: 05 Jul 2013 7:13 PM
  
 If you are looking to take a loan to buy some real estate or a new car, you may want to do it sooner rather than later. That's because some analysts expect interest rates to start rising as soon as September.

SINGAPORE: If you are looking to take a loan to buy some real estate or a new car, you may want to do it sooner rather than later.

That's because some analysts expect interest rates to start rising as soon as September.

Singapore's interest rates are closely tied to those in the United States.

And the Federal Reserve has made it clear that if the US economy continues its upward trend, quantitative easing will start tapering as soon as September, and the Fed could raise interest rates in 2015.

When this happens, interest rates will rise globally and Singapore is no exception, say analysts.

BNP Paribas' Wong Yii Hui said: "This will have an impact, firstly, on new home buyers and, secondly, people who are refinancing their loans...most loans in Singapore are on a 3-year fixed basis, after that people usually refinance at the three-year mark.

"At that point in time when they refinance, they will find that all of a sudden (they are) paying more in monthly instalments. And if you're highly leveraged, then that will be the point where you find that you may be under water." 

- CNA/ir

- wong chee tat :)