In Singapore (Photo: Straits Times) Singapore (VNA) – An articlepublished on the Singapore’s Straits Times on February 16 commented that even as Singapore'seconomy stays on the recovery track, enthusiasm over a significant growthacceleration is wearing off.
The uncertainty over the trajectory of the pandemic iscasting a long shadow on the sustainability of global demand and a robustrevival of domestic consumption. Those doubts are likely to make employerseven more hesitant to hire, keeping unemployment at elevated levels and privateconsumption subdued, it said.
Exercising caution, the Singaporean Ministry of Trade andIndustry (MTI) kept its economic growth forecast at 4 percent to 6 percent thisyear.
IrvinSeah, senior economist at DBS Bank, expected a gradual improvement in servicesgrowth in 2021, although the pace of recovery will be uneven across variousservices segments.
Head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC Bank SelenaLing said factors that will keep the economy on track for MTI's forecast rangeinclude the demand for semiconductors, especially with the current global chipshortage and the roll-out of 5G products and solutions.
The China plus-one strategy where US and European companiesavoid investing only in China and diversify their businesses into othercountries in the region, and the global supply chain diversification push mayalso help drive growth across ASEAN countries, including Singapore, she added./.
