9th most expensive city

A STRONGER currency and a rise in inflation have made Singapore a more expensive place for expatriates to live in, a survey has found.

Singapore jumped three spots from a year ago to become the ninth priciest Asian city in the latest cost of living ranking by human resource company ECA International.

It beat Taiwan's Taipei and China's Shenzhen and Guangzhou, but remained cheaper than Japan's Tokyo and Yokohama, and China's Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Worldwide, Singapore's rising cost of living catapulted it into the 78th spot on this year's global survey, up almost 20 places from 97th last year. The main reason for the movement - and, in fact, for most of the changes in this year's survey - was exchange rate fluctuations, said ECA International.

The Singapore dollar has gained about 10 per cent against the US dollar since March. This has helped push up the cost of living in Singapore, compared with some neighbouring cities whose currencies are pegged to the US dollar such as Hong Kong.