Finance and insurance sector drives GDP engine

Singapore

THE finance and insurance sector revved up the Singapore economy for the second year running, outperforming all other sectors in pace of growth and in productivity level in the fourth quarter and for the year as a whole, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Tuesday.

The sector surged 10 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago, boosted by "sentiment-sensitive" activities such as forex trading and fund management, said MTI. The insurance industry also powered ahead.