Economists retain Singapore's full-year GDP forecast for now despite tighter Covid-19 rules

THE Straits Times Index shaved nearly 3 per cent on Friday following news of tighter Covid-19 restrictions set to last about a month from Sunday, but economists say they are not expecting the changes to throw Singapore's economic recovery off course for now, even if the services sector will take a longer time to make a comeback.

On Friday, Singapore's Covid-19 taskforce announced a ban on dining-in and a further reduction in the size of social gatherings from five to two, following the discovery of a new cluster at Changi Airport that taskforce co-chair Lawrence Wong described as "very worrying".

Workplaces will revert to working from home as the default, reversing earlier measures to allow up to 50 per cent of employees at the office.