A view in Singapore (straitstimes.com) Hanoi (VNA) - Singapore's economy grew only1.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the previous quarter, muchlower than economists’ forecast of 3.2 percent.
Under a report announced by the Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry, from a year earlier, the country’s economy grew 2.2percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the median forecast of 2.3 percent inthe Reuters survey and a revised 2.3 percent growth in the third quarter.
Theeconomy expanded 3.3 percent for all of 2018, down from a three-year high of3.6 percent in the prior year.
The Singaporean Governmentforecast that the country’s economic growth was estimated at between 3-3.5percent in 2018, and about 1.5 - 3.5 percent in 2019.
Some economists said that while the trade-reliant economy’s growth is expectedto slow this year, it may still expand at a sufficiently robust pace to justifythe more tightening monetary policy by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Economist Alvin Liew fromthe UOB Global Economics and Markets Research team saidthe MAS is more likely to further tighten the monetary policy in April 2019.-VNA
VNA
