SINGAPORE – Economically, Singapore is not yet out of the woods either, but it is beginning to see signs of stabilisation, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his new year’s message.
“After our most severe downturn since independence, we look forward to a rebound in 2021, although the recovery will be uneven, and activity is likely to remain below pre-Covid-19 levels for some time,” he said.
Singapore’s gross domestic product growth is expected to come in at -6.5% to -6.0% in 2020 and 4% to 6% in 2021.
The republic’s Trade and Industry Ministry will release the advance GDP estimates for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2020 on January 4.
Lee said that through enormous effort and sacrifice, “we have stabilised our situation in Singapore, even as the virus continues to rage on elsewhere in the world”.
He said that the republic has achieved its primary objective to protect lives and keep the people safe.
“We have kept our fatality rate very low. The number of new local infections has come down to a handful a day, and zero on many days,” he said.
Singapore, which so far reported 29 deaths due to the coronavirus, has entered phase three of reopening its economic and social activities on December 28.
The first batch of Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines arrived in Singapore on December 21, and vaccinations have already begun.
“We can now see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Lee, while asking for support to keep up the efforts, and “not to falter in this final stretch”.
As at noon today, Singapore reported 30 new cases of Covid-19, thus taking the total infection tally to 58,599. – Bernama, December 31, 2020
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