About SORA

The Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA) is the volume-weighted average rate of borrowing transactions in the unsecured overnight interbank SGD cash market in Singapore between 8am and 6.15pm. SORA is accessible at no charge on the MAS website.

SORA is computed based on actual transactions and meets the standards of international best practice as set out in the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. The key features and calculation methodology of SORA can be found here.

SORA for a given business day in Singapore is currently published by 9am the next business day on the MAS website and through third party redistributors. The following information is published alongside SORA:

• SORA Index

• 1-month Compounded SORA

• 3-month Compounded SORA

• 6-month Compounded SORA

• Aggregate Volume of SORA Transactions

• Highest Transacted Rate from Reporting Banks for SORA

• Lowest Transacted Rate from Reporting Banks for SORA

• SORA Calculation Method

Benefits of SORA as an interest rate benchmark

• SORA is a robust benchmark underpinned by a deep and liquid overnight interbank funding market.

• SORA has been published by MAS since 1 July 2005. The availability of a long historical time series allows market participants to perform technical analysis and model trends for risk management, asset-liability pricing, and trading purposes. This should be supportive of a broad-based market adoption of SORA-based financial products.

• The market convention for the use of overnight interest rates such as SORA is to reference its compounded average. Compounded SORA rates are significantly more stable compared to forward-looking term rates (e.g. SOR) which are exposed to idiosyncratic market factors on a single day’s fixing, such as quarter/year-end volatility.

• The use of an overnight interest rate benchmark in SGD financial products is in line with similar developments in key global markets, particularly in derivatives. Measures needed to transition to SORA will thus have significant synergies with market participants’ ongoing efforts to develop trading capabilities in other near risk-free rates (RFR)-based financial products (e.g. SONIA, SOFR, SARON, TONA based derivatives).

• Cash market products (e.g. loans, bonds) that reference compounded SORA will benefit from the availability of SORA-based derivatives, which will be the market standard for SGD derivatives in the coming years.