| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: Private sector economists have become more bullish about Singapore's economy, sharply raising their full year growth forecasts.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said Wednesday that its latest survey of private sector economists showed growth is likely to come in at 14.9 per cent.
That's an upgrade from the nine per cent gross domestic product (GDP) that economists had forecast in the previous survey carried out in June.
The figure also lies within the government's official full year forecast for a growth of between 13 and 15 per cent.
The upgrade comes in the wake of robust growth in the second quarter this year, when GDP expanded by 18.8 per cent on-year.
The growth in the April to June period outperformed the private sector economists' median forecast of 9.4 per cent made in the previous survey.
Manufacturing is expected to continue to power Singapore's growth this year, as economists now expect the sector to expand by 28.7 per cent, up from 16.7 per cent.
Non-oil domestic exports will likely be 19.5 per cent higher, up from 17.8 per cent.
But the construction sector saw a slight dip in expected growth, with expansion forecast at 10 per cent down from 10.3 per cent in the previous survey.
For the third quarter this year, MAS said the respondents in its survey now expect GDP to rise by 11.6 per cent.
It's again higher compared to the six per cent expansion expected in the previous survey.
As for inflation, the median consumer price index forecast for this year increased to 2.9 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent.
In terms of the labour market, respondents expect the unemployment rate to reach 2.2 per cent by the end of the year, an increase from the two per cent forecast in the previous survey.
Growth next year is forecast to hit five per cent.
The MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters saw 20 respondents.
MAS said the survey does not represent its views or forecasts.
-CNA/wk
|
