Economists raise 2021 GDP forecast on better-than-expected Q1 data

SINGAPORE'S economy could perform better than initially expected this year, now that it has made marginal gains and defied expectations of a contraction in the first quarter, said economists, some of whom are now revising their full-year growth forecast.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.2 per cent in Q1, reversing the 2.4 per cent contraction in Q4. The is the first expansion since the Covid-19 pandemic began, going by the advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

The good showing surprised private-sector economists, who had anticipated a 0.5 per cent contraction, according to a Bloomberg poll.