Private-sector economists have expanded Singapore’s growth forecast to 6.2 percent this year, an increase from the earlier forecast of 5.7 percent, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) recent quarterly survey of analysts.
The respondents to the central bank’s June survey upgraded their forecasts after the economy expanded by 8.3 percent in the first quarter.
Q1’s rapid growth prompted the government to raise its forecast range for full-year growth from the previous four to six percent, to five to seven percent.
But economists polled by the MAS now expect gross domestic product (GDP) in Q2 to increase by only two percent from 2010, compared to the March survey’s prediction of 3.4 percent.
In addition, many of the 21 respondents to the June survey predicted an economic boost of 5.0 to 5.9 percent next year, with a median projection of 5.5 percent.
Interbank rates in Singapore are also forecasted to stay close to current record-low levels, with a median projection of 0.5 percent for the three-month Singapore-dollar interbank rate at the end of 2011.
With stronger economic growth envisioned, bank lending is also expected to grow more rapidly. The volume of outstanding bank loans is predicted to grow by 15.8 percent this year, compared to a median estimate of 11.3 percent in the March survey.
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