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Advance
GDP estimate for 1st time in Singapore |
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July 11, 2000
SINGAPORE
(AP) - The government on Monday released for the first time an advance
estimate of gross domestic product growth in the country's economy.
The estimate showed GDP in the second quarter of 2000 up by 7.7 percent in real terms, over the same period last year. The advance estimate gives an early indication of growth based largely on data from the first two months of the year. The usual preliminary estimate will be issued Aug. 10. Economists said that higher-than-expected growth isn't likely to prompt a tightening of monetary policy. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country's de facto central bank, guides policy through the exchange rate, rather than interest rates. With inflation benign, there will be little need to tighten, said Charlie Lay, an economist with SG Securities. The weakness of regional currencies against the dollar also reduces the pressure for tighter policy, he said.
With GDP growth slightly higher than expected in the second quarter, growth for the full year is likely to come in near the top end of the government's forecast of growth between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent, economists said.
Goods-producing industries likely expanded by 7.8 percent in the second quarter, slightly more than the economy overall, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement. "The manufacturing sector continued its robust growth, boosted by the electronics and chemicals industries," the ministry said. The construction sector, however, remained sluggish." Service industries are estimated to have grown by 6.8 percent in the second quarter, slightly less than growth overall.
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