The financial ratings of Singapore's banks are stable, thanks to a buffer built up during the economic boom last year and conservative management of their balance sheets. According to ratings agency Moody's, the overall impact of the tightening global credit markets has been moderate. However, Moody's has also revealed that there are risks ahead that could undermine the stability for banks in Southeast...
Singapore Economy
Hong Kong and Singapore are the two economies most conducive to global trade, according to a ranking by the World Economic Forum released on Wednesday. The World Economic Forum's new Global Enabling Trade Index survey of 118 economies looked at ten factors impacting trade, such as tariffs, customs administration efficiency and availability of transport and communications infrastructure. Tourists in...
Private-sector economists are a little less optimistic about Singapore’s economic growth this year than they were three months ago. According to the latest quarterly survey of 21 professional forecasters by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, they expect full year growth to come in lower at 5.5 per cent. The new forecast is a slight downgrade from the 5.6 per cent estimate in the last survey in March....
Singapore ranks second in Asia after Tokyo as a key centre of commerce, according to a study by MasterCard Worldwide Research. The study ranks the top 75 centres of commerce by comparing how they perform critical functions that connect markets around the world. Globally, Singapore takes fourth spot ahead of Hong Kong which is sixth in this year's index. According to the study, Singapore shines as a...
But there will be discomfort on the ground, he says DESPITE the growing prices of food and oil around the world, Singapore is not heading for a economic recession, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday. According to Channel NewsAsia reports, Mr Tharman said at a community event that from all indications at this point, he did not think Singapore was heading for an economic recession. But...
But the hike in fuel prices in Malaysia will cause discomfort here SINGAPORE is not heading for a recession, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, although fuel price increases in Malaysia would lead to discomfort. ‘From all indications we have at this point, I don’t think we’re heading for a recession. ‘But there will be discomfort on the ground,’ he said, speaking to Channel NewsAsia...
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Sunday gave the assurance that Singapore is not heading for a recession. Speaking at a community event, Mr Tharman said, “From all indications we have at this point, I don’t think we’re heading for a recession. But there will be discomfort on the ground. Unfortunately, the fuel price increase in Malaysia does mean that vegetable, poultry and some other...
Across Asia, household wealth is estimated to be worth as much as US$16 trillion and there are signs that a greater portion of it is shifting to Singapore. This is according to VP Bank, which is the latest bank to receive a merchant banking licence here. The Liechtenstein-based private bank has set up shop in Singapore to target ultra-high net worth clients, both here and around the region. Currently,...
There continues to be strong demand for talent in the financial and accounting sector in Singapore. That's according to a series of polls conducted by global recruitment agency Robert Half International. The global survey included 5400 finance professionals from 18 countries. Out of the 300 hiring managers surveyed from Singapore, 40 per cent said they would expand their finance team within the next six...
Singapore’s economy expanded at a slower-than-expected annualised rate of 14.6 per cent in the first quarter from the fourth in a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis. In a statement, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said that GDP grew by 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008, up from the 5.4 per cent increase in the preceding quarter. Manufacturing expanded 12.4 per cent...