11.12.201905:51:00UTC+00Singapore GDP Growth Likely To Exceed Estimate: MAS Survey

The Singapore economy is likely to expand slightly more than previously projected in 2019, according to the survey of professional forecasters from Monetary Authority of Singapore, released Wednesday.

Gross domestic product is forecast to grow 0.7 percent this year, instead of 0.6 percent projected in the previous survey.

The city-state economy is expected to expand 1.5 percent next year, with respondents on average forecasting 1.5-1.9 percent growth compared to 1-1.9 percent range in the previous survey.

Overall inflation for 2019 as a whole is forecast to be 0.6 percent, down from 0.7 percent in the September survey. Likewise, core inflation is seen at 1.1 percent versus prior forecast of 1.2 percent.

As for the labor market, the respondents expect the unemployment rate to be 2.3 percent at year-end, on par with the previous survey.

Respondents cited further escalation of trade tensions as the main downside risks to the economy. A sharper-than-expected slowdown in China's growth was another concern.