©Reuters. People sit outside a construction site in Singapore February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Economists have revised up Singapore’s growth forecasts for 2024, according to a survey by the country’s central bank released on Wednesday, which said better-than-expected external growth is seen as the main upside driver for ‘economy.
The average forecast of 23 economists polled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore is for the economy to grow 2.4% this year, compared with the 2.3% forecast in the December survey.
The Department of Commerce expects gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024 to be between 1.0% and 3.0%.
Economists surveyed also cut their inflation forecasts, with headline inflation and core inflation expected between 3.0 and 3.4%. In the December survey, they assigned the highest probability to the range between 3.5 and 3.9% for headline inflation and between 3.0 and 3.4% for core inflation.
The MAS expects core inflation to fall to an average of 2.5-3.5% for 2024.
The survey was conducted in mid-February, after the government released fourth-quarter GDP results last year, which were slower than initial estimates.
In the fourth quarter, GDP grew 2.2% year-on-year, lower than the advance estimate of 2.8%.
Most respondents do not expect the central bank to change monetary policy in the April 2024 review.
The MAS had kept monetary policy settings unchanged in January as inflationary pressures continued to moderate and growth prospects improved. It also left monetary policy unchanged in April and October last year, reflecting growth concerns, after tightening monetary policy in five consecutive reviews before that.
This year the MAS has a new review program with policy announcements quarterly rather than semi-annually.