Illustrative image (Photo: CNN) According to the minister, one of the contributing factors to Singapore's growth is the globaleconomic recovery is generally still on track, despite the risks posed by thepandemic. He said high vaccination rates in key advanced economies such as the US andthe eurozone have allowed countries to continue to reopen even amid anincrease in the number of COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, countries in theregion are also ramping up vaccination efforts, which will facilitate theresumption of higher economic activity in the coming quarters, he added.
In addition, Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in thefirst half of 2021 was better than expected, reaching 7.7 percentyear-on-year.
The minister also highlighted the good progress in the country's vaccination, which has allowed Singapore to gradually relax domesticand border restrictions, thus easing the labour shortages in areas such as capital construction dependent on migrant workersand supporting the recovery of retail sector. However, he also warned that thetravel and aviation related sectors are likely to recover slowly due to continued global travel restrictions and weak travel demand.
Singapore's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MTI) in August revised its growth forecast for this year to 6-7 percent -- up from an earlier outlook of 4-6 percent./.
VNA
