Singapore aims to strengthen financial services sector

Singapore on Monday announced a wide-ranging plan to boost its financial services sector, saying it aimed to grow the industry by over four percent a year and create thousands of jobs.

The city-state is one of Asia's key financial hubs and home to the regional headquarters of many major banks and other key players in the sector. It has long competed with Hong Kong for the title of the region's leading financial centre.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank, unveiled a roadmap which set out strategies to grow the sector, saying it was urgent for the industry to keep pace with changes in technology.

"The sector is going through a period of significant change," MAS said in a statement.

"With technology transforming the way financial services are produced, delivered, and consumed, it is critical that Singapore's financial sector also transforms, to stay relevant and competitive."

The MAS plan envisages achieving real growth in the financial sector of 4.3 percent annually and aims to create 3,000 jobs in financial services, and an additional 1,000 jobs in the financial technology sector annually.