SINGAPORE: With better-than-expected data showing the economy back in expansion mode for the first quarter of 2021, economists said “green shoots” of recovery are emerging for Singapore following a year in the doldrums due to the COVID-19 pandemic.in the January to March period, according to flash estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Wednesday .The gains, albeit marginal, marked the economy’s first quarterly growth since the pandemic erupted and beat expectations for a 0.
Making the most gains in the first quarter was the manufacturing sector, which grew 7.5 per cent year-on-year. Accounting for about one-fifth of Singapore’s economy, the sector has been a bright spot in the pandemic-fuelled downturn, and economists said its outlook remains buoyant. Construction also posted a smaller contraction – down 20.2 per cent, compared with an earlier 27.4 per cent decline in the fourth quarter of last year.
Maybank Kim Eng economists Chua Hak Bin and Lee Ju Ye are penciling in full-year growth of 6.2 per cent, up from 4.5 per cent, due to factors such as improvements in the global economic outlook and a rapid roll-out of vaccines. The spread of the coronavirus continues in parts of the world, while the roll-out of vaccines remains slow. These could curb the reopening of international borders, and “persistent weakness” in the aviation, retail and hospitality sectors will hold back recovery, they added.
Experts also said that despite tweaks in its policy statement and an upgrade to headline inflation forecasts, the central bank remains cautious.
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