Singapore economists downgrade growth forecast

Economists in Singapore have downgraded their forecast for the city-state's economic growth for 2012 due to the national debt and economic difficulties in the eurozone, dpa cited the central bank as saying Friday. The economy is to grow by 2.5 per cent this year, down from a 3-per-cent forecast three months ago, according to a quarterly survey of 23 private-sector economists by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The findings released by the central bank on Friday showed that the growth forecast for most sectors, including manufacturing, financial services and construction, had also been downgraded. Economic growth has been slowing down in recent quarters, with fourth-quarter growth coming in at 3.6 per cent year-on-year. Full-year growth in 2011 was 4.9 per cent, the government said. For the first quarter this year, the economists said they expected the economy to expand by 0.1 per cent, but that they thought growth would pick up later in the year. Inflation is expected to reach 3.5 per cent in 2012, higher than previously predicted.