Singapore’s economy looks upbeat

Singapore’s 2013 economic growth was revised upwards from 3.7% to 4.1%, thanks to a last-minute surge in manufacturing. Does this portend better times to come? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views on Singapore’s economic performance on Channel NewsAsia – Business Central

Perera commented that Singapore’s economic growth exceed expectations and this reflected an improving climate for exports, mainly driven by developed country growth. This would last into 2014 because of the on-going recovery in the US, improvements in Northern Europe, the momentum from Abe-nomics in Japan and a still-respectable showing from China.

On the other hand, the domestic retail sector was losing some ground. Perera shared that this was partly due to a slowdown in tourist arrival and spending growth, as a result of slower growth in regional economies like China and India. In contrast, the wholesale market will see some forward momentum on the back of a stronger export sector in 2014.

While Singapore’s financial services sector was a strong engine of growth in 2013, Perera explained how the sector’s growth would weaken in 2014 as a result of an outflow of offshore funds to the US and a cooling property market depressing mortgage loan growth.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/singapores-economy-looks-upbeat/

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