Singapore might have just been named the world’s most competitive economy – but no one can quite get the idea of a coming recession out of their heads.
Economists at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) predicted that the city-state will experience the sharpest economic slowdown in Southeast Asia, with GDP (gross domestic product) growth slowing down from 3.1 per cent in 2018 to 1.9 per cent this year.
As an economy that is heavily dependent on exports, the economist at ICAEW believe that Singapore’s growth will likely be affected by the escalation in trade conflict between the United States and China, following the return of tit-for-tat trade tariff threats between the two economic superpowers.
The same report by the ICAEW published today also noted that Singapore could potentially enter a recession in 2020, should external conditions further deteriorate.
In the first quarter of this year, Singapore’s economy saw a dismal growth of 1.2 per cent — the lowest growth rate in a decade.
That said, the same report also specified that things are looking up for Singapore’s construction sector, an important part of city-state’s economy given the continued recovery in non-residential construction and ongoing public infrastructure projects such as the North-South corridor.
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