Singapore’s equities market has received a clear vote of confidence in the city-state’s 2026 Budget, with a significant boost to the Equity Market Development Programme ( EQDP ) designed to deepen liquidity and strengthen the Singapore Exchange ( SGX ).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) will increase the size of the EQDP to S$6.5 billion ( US$5.1 billion ) from S$5 billion, following a top-up to the Financial Sector Development Fund unveiled by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, concurrently the minister of finance, in his Budget speech.

The move builds on reforms introduced in February 2025, after recommendations from the Equities Market Review Group, which was tasked with reinvigorating Singapore’s sluggish equities market.

The EQDP aims to channel capital into strategies that invest meaningfully in Singapore-listed companies, thereby anchoring long-term institutional participation and crowding in third-party capital.

To date, MAS has allocated S$3.95 billion across nine appointed asset managers, with strong interest and a robust pipeline of further applications. The next batch of managers is expected to be appointed around mid-2026.

This expansion signals more than incremental support. It reinforces Singapore’s broader strategy, including the proposed SGX-Nasdaq dual-listing bridge and targeted grants for listed firms, to position the market as a regional capital-raising hub for high-quality Asian companies.

For investors, it also underscores a clear policy direction: Singapore is committed to deepening market liquidity and strengthening its equity ecosystem.

Momentum is building

This latest policy support comes at a time when trading activity is already accelerating. In January, SGX Group reported a 66% year-on-year increase in stock market turnover to S$34.6 billion, with the average daily value of securities rising 58% to S$1.65 billion.

Derivatives volumes also climbed 34% year on year to 32.1 million contracts, the highest level since March 2020, reflecting robust institutional demand for risk management tools across equities, foreign exchange, and commodities.

The benchmark Straits Times Index ( STI ) rose 5.6% in January from the previous month to 4,905.13, outperforming most Southeast Asian peers. Notably, momentum extended beyond index heavyweights, with increased trading in small- and mid-cap stocks, a key objective of recent market reforms.

Exchange-traded funds also posted record activity. Turnover of exchange-traded funds more than doubled to nearly S$1.4 billion from a year ago, while assets under management reached an all-time high of S$19.1 billion, supported by sustained inflows into gold, STI, and real estate investment trust products.

Capital raising also gathered pace in January, with new Catalist listings ( SGX’s sponsor-supervised secondary board ) and a successful Mainboard secondary listing, while secondary fundraising activity reached S$963 million.

Taken together, the data suggest that Singapore’s market recovery is not merely policy-driven; it is being reinforced by tangible improvements in liquidity, participation, and capital formation.

With deeper capital pools now being mobilized through the expanded EQDP, and trading activity already running at multi-year highs, SGX enters 2026 with a rare alignment of regulatory backing and market momentum.

It could be argued that strong global liquidity has created a rising tide that’s lifting all boats across Asean equities, but for investors across Asia, the triumvirate of the MAS, SGX, and the Singapore government joining forces to support the Exchange might be difficult to ignore.