Economists have predicted that Singapore’s growth will be 2.5 per cent this year. This is according to private-sector economists polled in a quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) which was released today. The economy’s growth for the year 2018 is also projected to be 2.5 per cent.
Economists anticipate that there will be better showing from manufacturing, finance and insurance sectors while there will be downslide in construction, accommodation and food services sectors.
There is high hope from the manufacturing sector, with economists surveyed predicting growth of 6.6 per cent for the sector, up from their 5 per cent growth prediction in June's survey.
Similarly, finance and insurance industry is expected to post the second-highest growth of 2.9 per cent, an increase from the 1.9 per cent growth predicted previously.
However, there is bad news from the construction sector as the growth forecast was severely cut as economists now predict the sector will contract by 4.2 per cent, a sharp drop from the 0.2 per cent growth predicted in the previous survey. Similarly, the accommodation and food services sector is predicted to contract by 1.5 per cent, a drop from the 1 per cent growth predicted in June.
Meanwhile, economists also believe that geopolitical uncertainty such as the North Korean stand-off and the global trade protectionism are downside risks. The possible slowdown in Chinese economic activity is also an area of concern.
The economists also expect non-oil domestic exports to grow by 7.4 per cent this year, compared to 5.6 per cent previously. Private consumption is now projected to inch up by 0.6 per cent, down from the 1.1 per cent forecasted in June.
