Economists Expect S'pore To Grow 7.8% In Q3

Source : The Business Times, September 5, 2007

SINGAPORE - Singapore's third-quarter economic growth is expected to slow to 7.8 per cent year-on-year from an 8.6 per cent expansion in the second quarter of this year, a central bank survey showed on Wednesday.

Full-year growth was predicted at 7.5 per cent, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) quarterly survey of private-sector economists shows, within the government's 7-8 per cent 2007 forecast range.

The 2007 growth forecast compares with expectations of 6.0 per cent growth in the central bank's June survey.

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The MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters

According to the survey of 18 private-sector economists and analysts conducted in mid-August, Singapore's economy will expand by 6.5 per cent in 2008, higher than the 5.8 per cent expansion predicted in the June survey.

Last year, Singapore's economy grew by 7.9 per cent.

Economists raised their 2007 forecasts for manufacturing, financial services, construction, as well as wholesale and retail trade, while the forecast for the hotels and restaurants industry was reduced marginally.

The 2007 median forecast for Singapore's manufacturing sector, which makes up 27 per cent of the trade-dependent island's economy, rose to 7.2 per cent from 6.6 per cent in the previous survey.

Economists remained cautious in their outlook for highly volatile non-oil domestic exports this year, cutting their forecast to 6.2 per cent growth from 7.0 per cent.

However, exports are expected to have recovered in the third quarter, climbing by 7.0 per cent compared with 1.5 per cent growth in the previous three months. -- REUTERS