PM Lee Hsien Loong’s PAP expected to win 2020 snap polls despite the city-state’s shaky economic outlook
Singapore’s economy expanded at its slowest pace in a decade in 2019, a downturn that could have implications for the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) at snap elections expected later this year.
The US-China trade war, weaker global and Chinese economic growth, and a cyclical downturn in the electronics sector rattled the city-state’s export-oriented economy last year. Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew just 0.7%, down sharply from 3.1% in 2018.
With an expansionary budget anticipated in February and a general election expected to be called within months, fourth quarter data points to a modest recovery in 2020 that will depend largely on an array of uncertain external factors.
“Despite the lackluster growth performance, the economy is slowly getting out of the woods,” said Irvin Seah, senior economist with DBS Bank in Singapore. “Barring any unforeseen negative shocks, growth momentum is expected to pick up gradually in the coming quarters.”
Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
Singapore’s economy expanded at its slowest pace in a decade in 2019, a downturn that could have implications for the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) at snap elections expected later this year.
The US-China trade war, weaker global and Chinese economic growth, and a cyclical downturn in the electronics sector rattled the city-state’s export-oriented economy last year. Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew just 0.7%, down sharply from 3.1% in 2018.
With an expansionary budget anticipated in February and a general election expected to be called within months, fourth quarter data points to a modest recovery in 2020 that will depend largely on an array of uncertain external factors.
“Despite the lackluster growth performance, the economy is slowly getting out of the woods,” said Irvin Seah, senior economist with DBS Bank in Singapore. “Barring any unforeseen negative shocks, growth momentum is expected to pick up gradually in the coming quarters.”
Read the full story at Asia Times.
