Singapore's economy rebounds
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Singapore's GDP forecast for 2004 is 3 to 5 percent.
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- Singapore's economy grew much faster than originally estimated between July and September, expanding at an annual rate of 17.3 percent on a rebound from the SARS outbreak and a recovery in the global economy, the government says.
The third quarter's official performance was better than government's advance estimate of a 15 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate, the fastest growth rate since 1997 and above the 16 percent growth most economists had forecast.
Gross domestic product, the total value of all goods and services in the economy, grew 1.7 percent from the year-earlier period and against the government's advance estimate of 1.0 percent year-on-year.
"The third quarter recovery was led by the manufacturing sector ," the government said in a statement Monday.
The growth came mainly from higher production in both the electronics and biomedical goods sectors while the other manufacturing industries continued to contract.
Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Sunday the economy grew faster in the third quarter than the second quarter and is on track to meet a zero to one percent growth this year.
"The mood is better now," Lee told local newspapers, adding that there were vivid signs of a global recovery with the growth in the U.S. and Japanese economies.
Economists had been expecting the government to revise up the third-quarter estimate to 16 percent according to the median of eight economists polled by Reuters.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry said that GDP growth this year will be at zero to one percent as earlier projected and set a forecast of 3-5 percent for 2004.
Singapore suffered its worst contraction on record in the June quarter, when the economy shrank at an annualised rate of 9.8 percent -- revised Monday from a previous estimate of 11.4 percent -- as tourists shunned the city-state due to the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
The government said its composite leading index, which points to economic activity three quarters ahead, grew by 6.7 percent in the third quarter after rising by 3.7 percent in the second quarter of the year.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
