Singapore Shows Surprising Growth in April

Singapore’s economy took an unexpected turn higher in the first quarter of the year.

Martin Vaughan from WSJ: Singapore’s economy took an unexpected turn higher in the first quarter of the year as a rally in financial markets buoyed the city-state’s banking sector.
Gross domestic product expanded 1.8% in the first quarter on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, an improvement from preliminary data that had indicated a 1.4% decline, the government said Thursday. Officials said they expect growth to pick up modestly for the remainder of the year on stronger external demand, but kept their full-year growth forecast at 1.0%-3.0%.

IMF Scales Back Southeast Asia Growth Forecast

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast on the economic growth of five nations in Southeast Asia to better reflect faltering growth in the global economy. Monday’s assessment, released in a report by the IMF, was the latest development institution to announce an assessment after the World Bank cut its economic growth forecast for next year.

The IMF cut the economic growth forecast for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, which together are known as the Asean 5, to expand 6.1 percent in 2013, slightly lower that its earlier forecast of 6.2 percent. It cut the global economic outlook for growth to 3.9 percent next year, from its previous forecast of 4.1 percent.

Still, the IMF, which loaned billions of dollars to Thailand and Indonesia during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis with strict conditions, maintained the growth forecast for the year at 5.4 percent, unchanged from its forecast three months ago.

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Singapore Shows Surprising Growth in April

IMF Scales Back Southeast Asia Growth Forecast

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