S'pore economy could expand 2.3% in 2017: Deutsche Bank

Singapore

THE Singapore economy could expand 2.3 per cent year on year in 2017, with a further rise to 3 per cent in 2018, said Deutsche Bank in a report this week. Still, it cautioned that "such a growth increment (is) hardly any reason to cheer about" given the country's steady deceleration over the last few years.

Indeed, while the German bank's 2017 growth projection stands within the government's 1-3 per cent forecast range - and is in fact above 2016's official estimate of 1-1.5 per cent growth - it is far below the 5.3 per cent average growth in the preceding decade (2000-2009).