SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy will expand 2.5 percent in 2012, slowing from 4.9 percent last year due to lower growth in manufacturing and financial services, according to a central bank survey of economists released on Friday.
The forecast was lower than the median of 3.0 percent in a December survey but is at the high end of the government's growth forecast range of 1-3 percent for 2012.
Economists surveyed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore also predicted inflation would come in at 3.5 percent in 2012, up from the median expectation of 3.1 percent in December and at the top end of the MAS forecast of 2.5 to 3.5 percent. Singapore's inflation averaged 5.2 percent in 2011.
Economists were more bullish about the city-state's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) and are predicting a 4.2 percent expansion this year, up from 3.1 percent in the previous survey, the MAS said.
Singapore's exports recovered strongly in February, led by electronics and pharmaceuticals, providing an early sign the picture could brighten for Asia's trade-dependent economies, government data showed earlier on Friday.
The Southeast Asian city-state is seen as a bellwether for the region as its trade is three times the size of its economy.
Forecasters polled by MAS said the Singapore dollar would end the year at 1.23 to the US dollar, unchanged from the last survey.
MAS said the median estimates in its reports were based on the estimates of 23 economists and analysts. The survey was sent out on Feb. 16.
For the first three months of 2012, the median forecast of economists was that the Singapore economy would grow 0.1 percent from a year earlier, up from zero in the last survey.
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