Singapore central bank appoints Menon as new head

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (Mas), the city-state's central bank, said on Wednesday that Ravi Menon will become its managing director from April 2, replacing Heng Swee Keat who is likely to enter politics. Menon joined MAS in 1987 and rose to become an assistant managing director before holding other government posts. He is currently permanent secretary at Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry. Menon, 47, spent a year at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, as a member of the Secretariat to the Financial Stability Forum.

Mas said Heng, 49, is retiring and it declined to comment on his future plans. According to local media reports, Heng is likely to stand as a candidate for the ruling People's Action Party (Pap) in general elections that may be held as early as April. The Pap, which has ruled Singapore since independence in 1965 and holds most of the seats in the country's Parliament, has a practice of recruiting top civil servants and, after their election, elevating them to cabinet-level positions. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was central bank chief before entering politics, while Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang were in the military.