SINGAPORE - Singapore's economy will slow in the fourth quarter to 5.3 per cent from a year ago, with full-year growth for 2006 expected at a median 7.8 per cent, a central bank survey of economists showed on Thursday.
Singapore's trade-driven economy grew at a 7.2 per cent pace in the third quarter from a year ago. In the fourth quarter of 2005, gross domestic product expanded at an 8.7 per cent clip year-on-year.
Economists raised their 2006 growth forecasts for financial services and construction, but they expected hotels and restaurants to perform slightly below expectations, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its quarterly survey of 16 private-sector economists.
For 2007, the central bank said respondents expected growth to expand at a healthy, albeit somewhat slower pace. The survey showed a median forecast for growth of 5.2 per cent in 2007, with growth of 4.5 per cent in the first quarter expected to reach 5.0 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 5.6 per cent in the subsequent quarters.
The median forecast for Singapore's manufacturing sector, which makes up about one quarter of the Singapore economy, was just 7.5 per cent for 2007. That's sharply slower than the 11.7 per cent clip they expect this year thanks to strong global tech demand.
Economists were also cautious about the island's non-oil domestic exports -- seen at 9 per cent in 2007, and slower than the 11 per cent expected this year.
For the end of 2006, domestic interest rates were anticipated to fall slightly, with the year-end 3-month interbank rate projected at 3.45 per cent. The year-end exchange rate forecast for the Singapore dollar against the US dollar was unchanged at 1.550.
The Singapore dollar -- which has risen more than 8 per cent so far this year -- reached a 9-year high of 1.5362 per US dollar on Wednesday. -- REUTERS
