SINGAPORE: Singapore’s economy grew by 14.7 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021, faster than the 1.5 per cent growth in the previous quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Wednesday (Aug 11).
The ministry also upgraded the GDP growth forecast for 2021 to 6 to 7 per cent, up from 4 to 6 per cent. This is based on the “better than expected” performance of the Singapore economy in the first half of the year, as well as the latest external and domestic economic developments, MTI said.
With the COVID-19 situation in Singapore stabilising and the country’s vaccination programme on track, “Singapore’s economy is expected to continue to see a gradual recovery in the second half of the year, supported in large part by outward-oriented sectors,” according to the ministry.
The progressive easing of domestic and border restrictions will also play a part in supporting the recovery of Singapore’s consumer-facing sectors and alleviate labour shortages in sectors that are reliant on migrant workers, it added.
Sharp improvements across all clusters in the manufacturing sector supported the overall expansion in the April to June period.
The constructor sector, led by an expansion of public and private projects, was also a big growth driver. It expanded 106.2 per cent from the same period last year, a big turnaround from the 23.2 per cent fall in the previous quarter.
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