Economists have raised their full-year growth forecasts for Singapore, a survey by the central bank showed on Wednesday, reflecting increased optimism about the outlook for the city-state.
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) latest quarterly Survey of Professional Forecasters, analysts have raised Singapore's median growth forecast to 2.9 percent for 2013, up from a previous estimate of 2.3 percent.
Singapore's economy, heavily dependent on trade, manufacturing and financial services, grew 15.5 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, data released last month showed.
On an annual basis, the economy expanded 3.8 percent in the quarter, which was higher than the median forecast of 1.5 percent reported in the June survey, the MAS said. The median forecast for annual growth in the third quarter is 4.0 percent.
A robust economy is one reason why Singapore has held up relatively well despite turmoil in emerging markets and neighboring Asian countries such as Indonesia, which have taken a beating from expectations that U.S. monetary stimulus will be scaled back soon.
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"The outlook is not looking that bad for an economy that got off to a soft start to the year," said CIMB Regional Economist Seng Wun Song. "But Singapore is not immune from the emerging market turmoil and if the currency woes of its neighbors continue, that could spill over into the Singapore economy."
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, saw its currency – the rupiah – weaken past 11,000 per U.S. dollar on Tuesday for the first time in more than four years.
