As announced by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Message on Wednesday, the growth of the Singapore economy is astoundingly 7.6 percent in the first half of the year. Since this was more than what was expected, the government has raised its full-year growth forecast to between 7.0 and 8.0 percent, whereas the earlier target was only between 5.0 to 7.0 percent. According to the opinion of the analysts, the new growth target seems to be feasible. The analysts observe that a half-year growth of 7.6 percent shows the GDP expanding by 8.7 percent in the second quarter, which was much higher than what was estimated. This has caught the surprise of the economists.

Commenting on the issue, the Economist of UOB group Mr. Alvin Liew remarked, "We thought that there would be a downward revision because manufacturing came in weaker than expected. But given the numbers that we see today, the 7.6 percent first-half growth, this means most likely that construction as well as services... growth rates will be significantly revised up. In particularly, construction would have done particularly well."

When the financial services and tourism-related services remain strong, the electronics manufacturing shows only a marginal growth. Though it is not certain whether the same momentum of growth can be sustained in the second and third quarters, it seems certain that the forecast of 7 to 8 percent is achievable. More details on the second quarter economic performance will be released on Friday.