Overall surplus seen overshooting estimates

[SINGAPORE] Economists are expecting the government's overall surplus to overshoot initial estimates by as much as 2.5 times, as Singapore's stronger growth in 2013 boosted GST takings and property taxes rose despite a cooling real estate market.

Overall budget surplus forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 (FY2013) range from $5.9 billion to $7 billion, far above the $2.4 billion the government had estimated a year earlier.

This would be the government's 10th consecutive year of fiscal outperformance, Citi economists Kit Wei Zheng and Brian Tan wrote in a recent note, forecasting a $6.5 billion overall surplus.