Constructions in the central business district in Singapore, on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. Singapore’s economy expanded by a slightly more modest determine than initially expected in 2023, as manufacturing activity contracted and services growth slowed.
Nicky Loh | Bloomberg | Getty Models
Singapore’s economy in 2024 is forecast to grow faster than estimated earlier, while the outlook for inflation has been emended lower, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s survey showed Wednesday.
The survey of forecasters has pegged this year’s advance at 2.4% and headline inflation at 3.1%, compared with the December survey’s estimates of 2.3% GDP growth and inflation at 3.4%.
The city-state’s fiscal growth is expected to increase to 2.5% in 2025.
Singapore’s manufacturing sector — which makes up over 20% of the country’s GDP — is now required to grow at 4% in 2024, up from 2.3%.
While economists raised their forecasts for the manufacturing, finance and insurance, and construction sectors, the opinion for the wholesale and retail trade, as well as accommodation and food services sectors was revised lower.
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The compactness is expected to grow at 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the survey, with advance GDP numbers due on April 12.
A Lower inflation
While the MAS appraisal reported that economists have lowered their headline inflation forecasts from 3.4% to 3.1% for 2024, the median vaticination for the so-called “MAS core inflation” metric remained unchanged from the previous survey at 3%.
The MAS core inflation metric to the buffs out prices of accommodation and private transport from the headline inflation figure.
Headline inflation and MAS core Inflation are presage at 2% for 2025.
In light of these conditions, the economists also don’t expect changes to Singapore’s monetary policy in the upcoming April 2024 commentary.
Singapore sets monetary policy via exchange rate settings instead of a benchmark interest rate, allowing the Singapore dollar to nourish and weaken within an undisclosed policy band against a basket of its major trading partners’ currencies.