As Singapore’s growth continues to surprise, doing better than expected has its own dangers

[SINGAPORE] Three months ago, with the release of the advance estimates of Singapore’s first-quarter growth, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) warned that the US and Israel’s war on Iran could take an economic toll in the coming quarters.

Soon afterwards, however, Q1 growth turned out better than expected. Updated figures put it at 6 per cent year on year, higher than the advance estimate of 4.6 per cent.

On Tuesday (Jul 14), advance estimates of Q2 growth exceeded economists’ expectations again at 5.7 per cent, higher than the median 5.5 per cent forecast in a Bloomberg poll. Q1 growth was also revised upwards to 6.3 per cent.