Business News
Singapore must get used to slower growth, prime minister says
Oct 20, 2011, 13:39 GMT
Singapore - Singapore must get used to slower economic growth over the next decade amid tougher global competition, the city-state's prime minister said Thursday.
'Over the next 10 years, we have set a target of 3- to 5-per-cent [annual economic growth],' Lee Hsien Loong said.
'I would say if we can make 3-plus per cent consistently over the next 10 years, we've had a good decade,' he told Parliament.
Singapore last week cut its growth forecast for 2011 because of weakening global economic conditions.
The government said gross domestic product was likely to rise 5 per cent this year, compared with an earlier forecast range of growth of 5 to 6 per cent.
In 2010, Singapore posted a record growth of 14.5 per cent.
Lee said Thursday that the current economic problems in the United States and Europe, which are large markets for Singapore goods, were 'deep and structural' and would not be solved soon.
There was a real risk of protracted global stagnation, he said during a debate on the government's policy priorities over the next five years.
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