Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stressed that the economic condition of the country has made a remarkable recovery from the previous year, and he expects a good year ahead.
The economic rebound from the downturn exceeded expectations, added PM Lee, reacting to the strong economic performance of the country during the first quarter of 2010.
Speaking to the Singapore media during his trip in the US, PM Lee said he does not believe that the strong economic growth will continue indefinitely because it is just not possible.
"Our target is 3 to 5 percent growth over the next 10 years. This year is off to a very good start – I expect we should have a good year.”
"And we should make the most of these conditions this year to get momentum for our longer term plans to upgrade the productivity, transform the economy and to continue to work at our tripartite relationship between the unions, employers and the government, so that the next time something hits us, we are stronger than we were the last time," he said.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has also revised the inflation rate of the country, from two percent to between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent. But PM Lee does not expect the prices of basic necessities to increase drastically.
As for the increasing property prices, he said that the Singapore government had already introduced new measures to prevent a bubble formation.
"When there is a momentum like this for the housing market, it doesn’t change on the dime. You don’t introduce new measures and tomorrow, straight away, prices drop. If you did, you probably are risking a crash and you don’t want to cause destabilisation.”
"So we’ll have to watch it over the next few months and decide whether we need to do something more or not. If we need to, we will – we have some instruments,” said PM Lee.
"But when you’re dealing with property prices, we can influence the major directions. We can’t influence the day-to-day ups-and-downs and the value of every individual flat,” he added.
During his stay in the US capital, Mr. Lee also had meetings with several members of the US administration and the business community.
He also expressed that with the feedback he received, they were confident that the US economy is also recovering. "There are still some headwinds and they may not come back to full robust growth for some time."
Mr. Lee added: "And even when they do come back to robust growth, they cannot come back to where they were, which is consuming more than they were producing and covering the difference by borrowing.”
"So it will be a different balance and the world will have to get used to this different balance. But as long as it keeps on an even keel like this, I think that provides the conditions for Asia to continue its growth and its transformation."