Singapore maintains 2021 GDP forecast at 4% to 6% due to ‘heightened uncertainties’ from COVID-19

May 25, 2021

Singapore has maintained its growth forecast for 2021 at a range of 4 to 6 per cent in view of “heightened uncertainties” arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Tuesday (May 25).

The forecast will be reviewed again in the next quarter when there is “more data and greater clarity” over the global and domestic economic situations, it added.

The decision comes despite data showing the economy putting up a stronger-than-expected showing in the first quarter of the year.

Gross domestic product grew by 1.3 per cent year-on-year between January and March, propped up by gains in the manufacturing, finance and insurance, and wholesale trade sectors.

This was much higher than the advance estimates of 0.2 per cent growth and marked Singapore’s first quarterly expansion since the pandemic erupted a year ago.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the economy grew by 3.1 per cent between January and March, also surpassing the advance forecast of 2 per cent growth.

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