The Monetary Authority of Singapore's Survey of Professional Forecasters, released on Wednesday, indicates an upward revision for Singapore's economic growth forecast this year, driven by robust manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade sectors.
The country's GDP is now expected to expand by 3.6 percent this year, an increase from the previous prediction of 2.6 percent. Experts anticipate the economic growth rate to be 2.6 percent in 2025.
For 2024, respondents have adjusted their predictions for consumer price inflation to 2.5 percent, down slightly from the earlier estimate of 2.6 percent. Similarly, the core inflation rate projection has been lowered to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent.
The survey forecasts an unemployment rate of 2.0 percent by the end of 2024.
Geopolitical tensions, particularly the imposition of higher tariffs, are identified by respondents as significant threats to the domestic economic outlook. Additional concerns include weaker economic growth in China and domestic cost pressures.
Conversely, 64 percent of respondents view stronger-than-expected growth in external markets as a potential positive influence on the economic outlook.
