Saturday, September 18, 2004
Singapore may post double-digit economic growth in 2004
AFP
SINGAPORE: Singapore may post double-digit economic growth this year, above the official forecast of 8.0-9.0 per cent, Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said Friday.
It was the first time a cabinet minister has publicly said the economy, which has rebounded sharply from the impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis last year, could grow in a double-digit range.
"The good news is that Singapore's economy is recovering," Ng said in a speech to a telecommunications union. "Singapore may even register double-digit economic growth this year. More new jobs will be created."
The last time Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) enjoyed double-digit growth was in 1993 and 1994. GDP contracted in 1998 due to the Asian financial crisis and in 2001 following a recession. Despite SARS, the economy managed to chalk up 1.1 per cent growth in 2003.
A median forecast of private economists surveyed last month by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state's central bank, said the economy should grow 8.4 per cent this year and slow down to 5.0 per cent in 2005. Singapore's elder statesmen Lee Kuan Yew has said the economy could post a sustainable annual growth rate of 4.0-6.0 per cent in the next decade, lifted by the giant economies of China and India.
Ng in his speech Friday urged workers to continue learning new skills to keep pace with the restructuring of the economy in a bid to maintain its competitive edge. "You all know that the wages of a factory worker in China are a fraction of those in Singapore," he said.
"We have no choice but to look for growth in value-added industries, for example the biomedical and creative industries, in order to propel our economy forward."
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