Singapore yesterday raised this year's growth targets to between 7.5 percent and 8 percent from between 7 percent and 8 percent after the economy grew at a faster pace in the third quarter on the back of a strong performance in the financial and construction sectors.
In the three months to September, GDP grew an annual 8.9 percent, faster than the 8.7 percent in the previous quarter, the ministry of trade and industry said.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter annualized basis, the economy grew 4.3 percent from 14.5 percent in the June quarter.
While the September quarter was below government estimates of 9.4 percent, the ministry said average growth in the first three quarters of this year was 8.1 percent and that the momentum was set to continue for the rest of the year.
"Economic growth picked up pace in the third quarter," the ministry said in its review of the three months to September.
"The momentum is likely to continue into the last quarter of 2007, albeit at a slower pace," it said, adding the economy was expected to grow "closer to the upper end" of its revised forecasts for this year.
"Economic growth in the US is expected to soften but the EU and Asian economies are expected to hold up," it said.
Singapore's economy, valued at S$210 billion (US$146 billion) last year, is highly dependent on external trade, which means the city-state is vulnerable to any slip-ups in the world's major markets.
In the third quarter, growth was powered by financial services that grew nearly 20 percent, making it the best performing industry in the period.
Growth in the sector was broad-based amid strong domestic banking and offshore lending activities, the ministry said.
Construction continued its strong rebound with 17.7 percent expansion. Manufacturing grew 10.5 percent.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS