THE STAR – Singapore’s economic growth is expected to have moderated in the fourth quarter, partly hurt by uncertainty caused by the Omicron COVID-19 variant and analysts say the outlook for next year will hinge on the global progress made against the pandemic.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is seen expanding 5.4 per cent from the same period a year earlier, according to the median forecast of economists in a Reuters poll, marking the fourth straight quarter of growth.
The economy grew 7.1 per cent in the third quarter.
“The drop in year-on-year growth rates would be largely due to unfavourable base effects,” said regional economist at Barclays Brian Tan in a report noting the year-ago sharp rebound from the pandemic-led downturn.
He sees overall growth for 2021 at 6.8 per cent.
