Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 5.8 percent in 2021, according to a recent forecast by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This is higher than the 5.5 percent GDP expansion predicted in December 2020. The economy is forecasted to grow by 3.8 percent in 2022 with a 1.1 percent inflation rate.
The forecast, which was carried out by 24 economists and analysts, pegged growth at between 5 percent and 6.9 percent. The outlook also improved for the labour market, penciling in a lower overall unemployment rate at 2.9 percent by the year-end.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in its forecast said that Singapore’s economy will grow by 4 percent to 6 percent this year, making a gradual recovery from the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, the ministry said, “Although the speed of vaccine deployment varies, advanced economies like the US and Eurozone are likely to reach population immunity by the second half of this year, which should, in turn, spur their economic recoveries.”
The ministry further revealed that Singapore’s economy contracted by 5.4 percent in 2020, making it the worst recession since its independence in 1965. Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) was forecasted to contract between 5 to 7 percent, according to the Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX). The forecast was most likely based on the ill-performing travel, construction and retail sector in the city-state.