MTI Revises 2010 Growth Forecast to 13.0 to 15.0 Per Cent

14 July 2010. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced today that it expects the Singapore economy to expand by 13.0 to 15.0 per cent in 2010, an upward revision from the earlier forecast of 7.0 to 9.0 per cent.

The updated growth forecast reflects three factors:

(a) Better economic performance in the first quarter of 2010;

(b) Stronger than expected economic growth in the second quarter; and

(c) Anticipated slowdown in growth momentum for the rest of the year.

Upward Revision in First Quarter Performance

The latest data from the Department of Statistics show that the Singapore economy grew at a stronger pace in the first quarter of 2010. The economy expanded by 16.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis, higher than the growth of 15.5 per cent estimated in May. On a seasonally-adjusted quarter-on-quarter annualised basis, the economy grew by 45.9 per cent, compared to an earlier estimate of 38.6 per cent. The revision is primarily due to an upward adjustment to the growth estimate for the manufacturing sector (specifically the biomedical manufacturing cluster).

Download the full press release [PDF, 39 KB].

MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
14 July 2010