A day before finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam presents his Budget, this island nation on Thursday reported Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2010 at 14.5 per cent, slightly lower than earlier estimates of 14.7 per cent growth, and made an upward adjustment in its inflation outlook.
However, the ministry of trade and industry (MTI) kept the GDP growth forecast for this year unchanged, with between four to six per cent expansion expected during 2011.
“The economy expanded by 14.5 per cent in 2010, driven largely by the manufacturing sector. Due to a surge in electronics and biomedical manufacturing output, the manufacturing sector rebounded by 29.7 per cent in 2010, following a 4.2 per cent contraction in 2009,” the MTI said in a statement.
The city-state’s financial sector, which had only expanded by 4.3 per cent in 2009, saw growth of 12.2 per cent in 2010, while wholesale and retail trade also posted a strong rebound at 15.1 per cent growth during the period, compared to a contraction of six per cent in 2009.
Additionally, tourism-related service sectors were bolstered by strong visitor arrivals, as well as the opening of the Integrated Resorts, the statement added, with the hotels and restaurants sector registering a growth of 8.8 per cent during 2010, as against contraction of 1.6 per cent in 2009.
For the current year, the global economic recovery, coupled with continuing robust demand from Asian nations, would allow the Singapore economy to grow by between four and six per cent in 2011, the MTI said.
“The steady pace of growth in the advanced economies is expected to lend support to Singapore’s manufacturing activities. In Asia, resilient domestic demand will continue to drive intra-regional trade flows and benefit Singapore’s wholesale trade sector... In addition, domestic factors such as capacity expansion in the electronics and biomedical manufacturing clusters will bolster growth in the manufacturing sector in 2011,” the statement added.