2023 may be no different from 2022, but Singaporeans can be hopeful and bold

JUST as concerns over the global pandemic abated in 2022, the pandemic-induced economic challenges reared its ugly head in the year, stoked by geopolitical tensions and conflict.

Energy prices spiked, generating a knock-on effect on large swathes of the economy. Global stocks and bonds lost more than US$30 trillion in 2022. These are the heaviest losses in asset markets since the 2008 financial crisis amid runaway inflation, significant interest rate rises, and the debilitating war in Ukraine.

It is no surprise if many of us are relieved to see 2022 come to an end, even as a sense of foreboding descends with China experiencing a massive surge in Covid-19 infections as it abruptly reopened, lifting its zero-Covid policy.