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Shoppers in the Arab Street area of Singapore.
Photographer: Wei Leng Tay / Bloomberg
Photographer: Wei Leng Tay / Bloomberg
After suffering its worst economic recession since independence, Singapore expects to see a rebound in 2021, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday. echoing other senior officials to warn that the recovery will be uneven.
“Economically, we are not out of the woods either, but we are starting to see signs of stabilization,” with jobs increasing and multinational companies making new investments, Lee said in a New Year’s speech. “We expect a rebound in 2021, although the recovery will be uneven and activity is likely to remain below pre-Covid-19 levels for some time.”
Singapore’s economy has been hit by the global pandemic, which has hit mainstays like tourism and trade. Gross domestic product is It is expected to contract between 6% and 6.5% this year, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in November, before growing between 4% and 6% in 2021.
Fourth-quarter and full-year GDP data released Monday will likely show that a recovery that began in the third quarter continued into the final three months of the year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Despite that, the year-round contraction is likely to be the most severe since the country’s independence in 1965.
Goodbye 2020
Covid led Singapore into worst recession since independence
Source: Singapore Department of Statistics, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Singapore officials have said there is still scope to provide more fiscal stimulus after committing about S $ 100 billion ($ 75.6 billion) in aid this year. Lee has He said he sees the government running a budget deficit until at least early 2021, and perhaps longer, to support consumers and businesses. The next budget will be published on February 16.
This week, Singapore became one of the first countries in Asia to administer a Covid-19 vaccine. The country has moved quickly since it obtained and approved Pfizer Inc. and The BioNTech SE vaccine and will begin giving injections to healthcare workers, and those over 70 will be vaccinated from February. Singapore also eased some social restrictions this week.
“Now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Lee said in the speech. “But it will still take some time for enough people to get vaccinated before we are safe from another major uncontrolled outbreak.”
– With the help of Myungshin Cho and Tom Redmond
