Standard & Poor’s downgraded the sovereign rating of the US from AAA to AA+ on 5 August 2011. The main reasons cited for the action were the $14.2 trillion debt, about 100 % of the GDP and the high fiscal deficit. This caused a huge turmoil in the financial markets the following week.
So the US is out of the AAA club. Who are the other members of this club? S & P has 13 nations on its list. There are Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Who is the odd one out? It has to be Singapore – a non Caucasian nation and the only one from Asia.
How is it possible that Singapore - a small nation, is in the club? Well, firstly, Singapore’s GDP per capita of US$56,521 is one of the highest among the club members. Secondly, Singapore’s 3 banks, OCBC, DBS and UOB are among the top six strongest banks in the world. In fact, OCBC came out top. It also has a foreign reserve of $250 billion.
Singapore has the highest millionaire density in the world. 11.4 % of its households are in the millionaire category. It is projected that by 2015, Singapore will have the world's highest per capita wealth - $4.5 million. For comparison, Switzerland, the highest per capita wealth now, has a value of $4.2 million.
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