Singapore Economy Grows 5.2% In June

Singapore's economy grew 5.2% in the quarter to June from a year ago, a sharp improvement over the 2.7% registered in the first quarter and well above the preliminary estimate of 3.9%, the government said Wednesday.

On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 18%, reversing the decline of 4.6% in the March quarter, the ministry of trade and industry said. Due to the robust showing in the June quarter, the economy grew 4.0% in the first-half of the year.

The strong performance, which beat analysts' projections of 4.1 to 4.4%, was attributed to generally better growth from all sectors of the economy. As a result of the improved outlook, Singapore's 2005 growth projections have been narrowed to 3.5-4.5% from 2.5-4.5%.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005