Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong says economic outlook brighter amid global recovery

The global recession was turning out to be less protracted than initially feared, Lee said in his May Day speech
His upbeat assessment came after the central bank said Singapore’s economy could grow by more than the previously-projected upper end of 6 per cent

Coronavirus pandemic

dpa

Published: 5:16pm, 1 May 2021

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The Singapore and world economies face better-than-anticipated prospects of revival this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a May Day speech given a day early on Friday.

“Compared to a year ago, our outlook has brightened considerably,” according to Lee, who put the optimism down to a global recession “turning out to be less protracted than we initially feared.”

As small, wealthy city state, Singapore’s economy depends heavily on foreign investment and trade and is highly vulnerable to global swings.

Lee's upbeat assessment came after the central bank said Singapore's economy could grow by more than the previously-projected upper end of 6 per cent.

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Last year saw a record gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of 5.4 per cent, with much of the damage done during an April-June lockdown, after which the domestic economy reopened in stages.

Economic indicators have since shown Singapore slowly recovering from the worst of last year, with first-quarter 2021 GDP expanding by 2 per cent, the third consecutive quarterly expansion in a row.

Singapore-based manufacturers “anticipate business conditions to improve” in the coming months, according to survey report published on Friday, but services such as hotels are less optimistic due to travel curbs.

With Covid-19 numbers low and the domestic economy largely operating along pre-pandemic lines, the government's Economic Development Board (EDB) canvassed almost 2,000 firms and found a rise in positive sentiment overall for the April-September period, compared to the preceding six months.

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Electronics manufacturers expect booming demand to continue, anticipating “higher export orders on account of robust demand from 5G markets” for semiconductors and other electronic components segments, the EDB said.

However, Singapore's hoteliers and others working in tourism and travel-related businesses “expect slow pick-up in demand due to entry restrictions and border closures.”

Local retailers are also less optimistic than during the previous six months, which coincided with the year-end and holidays such as Christmas and Lunar New Year.

Most of Singapore's almost 62,000 coronavirus cases were recorded from March-August last year. At 30, the related death toll is one the lowest anywhere.

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