SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday said country’s economy is expected to grow by 6.5 per cent this year.
According to its latest survey MAS said the new number, pushed up by the manufacturing, construction, private consumption and service sectors, is an upgrade from the 5.5 per cent median forecast in a previous survey in December.

Investment Risk Analysis FREE to your inbox

The latest survey was carried out late last month among 20 economists and analysts who closely monitored the city-state's economy, MAS said, but added it did not represent the authority's views or forecast.

For 2009 as a whole, the city-state's economy contracted by 2.0 percent, which corresponded with the respondents' median forecast for the year.

For the first quarter of this year, the respondents expected the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to expand by 9.5 per cent, similar to the 9.6 per cent reported in December.

MAS also said the median Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation forecast for this year fell to 2.7 per cent, down from the 2.8 per cent reported previously.

In Q1 2010, inflation is expected to come in at 1.1 percent. As for the labour market, the respondents expected the unemployment rate to be 2.0 per cent by year-end.

For 2011, the respondents' forecast at this stage is for GDP growth to be 5.5 per cent, while CPI inflation is expected to reach 2.0 per cent.

Post your comment  (0)

Connect:

Post to Twitter

Post to Facebook