Singapore to maintain economic growth momentum: central bank

The drivers of Singapore's economic growth should keep intact in 2010 despite some of the possible moderation in the growth momentum over the next few quarters, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Wednesday.

The country's central bank said that the economic growth forecast will be between 7 and 9 percent this year, and led mainly by trade-related activities such as manufacturing, wholesale trade and transport & storage, local TV broadcaster Channel News Asia reported.

The country's economy grew strongly by 13.1 percent in the first quarter of this year over the same period of last year.

In its latest Macroeconomic Review, the MAS said that the outlook for the global Information technology (IT) industry, the key determining factor in the growth profile, is moving on to the third stage of recovery.

It also noted that the biomedical and chemicals industries will enhance activity in the overall manufacturing sector.

The tourism industry will gain from strong Asian demand while the financial services should continue on the recovery path in the coming quarters, the MAS added.

Source: Xinhua