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Singapore economy currently in cyclical downturn: MAS

Xinhua, October 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Singapore economy is currently in a cyclical downturn, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its twice-yearly Macroeconomic Review issued on Tuesday.

As a trade-dependent economy, Singapore's economy is not expected to pick up significantly in the near term as it is impacted by changes in global trade elasticities, which reflect in part the ongoing transformation of global value chains, said MAS.

MAS expected Singapore's GDP growth for the whole year of 2016 to come in at the lower end of the 1 to 2 percent forecast range, and only slightly higher in 2017.

"The domestic economy has slowed discernibly since the last Review. Growth came in largely flat in the second quarter before deteriorating in the third quarter," it added.

For the coming quarters, MAS said that some support for growth may come from modern services and domestic-oriented industries. Looking further ahead, Singapore has to continually adapt to rapid shifts in global economic trends.

MAS observed that the global economy is expected to expand at a "steady but still mediocre" pace in 2017. Business investment has been sluggish in the major economies, despite loose monetary policy due to elevated economic uncertainty and lower expectations of potential GDP growth, alongside slower-growing populations.

The authority has projected the global growth to be at 3.7 percent in 2016, and an edge up to 3.8 percent next year. Endit