E-Paper
Singapore economy to grow moderately in 2005
The Singapore economy will grow between three and five per cent in 2005, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said.
The Singapore economy will grow between three and five per cent in 2005, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Thursday.
The economy registered a robust rebound of 8.4 per cent in 2004, and the growth rate is expected to remain healthy but moderate in 2005, Xinhua quoted MTI as saying.
MTI forecast the rate of growth after taking into account factors such as a drop in global semiconductor demand and the lingering high oil prices.
The good economic performance in 2004 was attributed to the strong external as well as domestic demand, which climbed 19.6 per cent and 11.6 per cent respectively.
All the economic sectors registered a higher growth rate in 2004 compared with a year ago except for the construction sector, which continued to decline but at a smaller contraction rate of 6.5 per cent.
The wholesale and retail sector and the manufacturing sector expanded by 14.6 per cent and 13.9 per cent respectively last year while sectors of business services and hotels and restaurants reversed the contractions following outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) disease in Southeast Asia in 2003.
The labour market rebounded as well in the past year with a lower unemployment rate of four per cent and 66,200 more people getting jobs.
External trade volume reached a historic high of 580 billion Singapore dollars ($354 billion) in 2004, a 22.5 per cent growth over the previous year.
Boosted by strong economic growth, Singapore's official foreign reserves rose by 20.7 billion Singapore dollars ($12.6 billion) to reach 183.8 billion Singapore dollars ($112 billion) at the end of last year.
