ECONOMISTS have flagged rising inflation as a possible cause of
concern, after they upgraded their forecasts for inflation this
year.
They also upgraded Singapore's growth forecasts for this year,
mainly due to the strong performance in the first three months of
this year, a survey of 21 economists by the Monetary Authority of
Singapore showed.
The survey also showed that the median forecast of economists
for inflation is 4.1 per cent, a notch higher than the 4 per cent
they predicted back in March and the Government's own forecast of
between 3 per cent to 4 per cent.
Growth should come in at about 6.2 per cent, the poll of
economists showed, within the Government's own 5 per cent to 7 per
cent range.
The upgrades are not surprising given that the Singapore economy
grew 8.3 per cent, much stronger than most had expected, said
economists.
This is despite the median growth forecast the period between
April and June to hit just 2 per cent, they added.
-- ST