The outlook is for more. Singapore should be pretty okay as long as the U.S. doesn't go down the tube. The number to watch is U.S. electronics demand. Nearly all economists figure the U.S. economy will slow this year. The question for Singapore is whether that slowdown will hit electronics makers.
Economists point to a few other risk factors.
An early May survey by the National University of Singapore showed that corporate profit growth slowed in the first quarter. Housing vacancies are up, though not to the levels that prevailed during the recession of 1998. Overall, domestic demand remains fairly sluggish. As a relatively open capital market, Singapore could be adversely affected if U.S. interest rates rise sharply this year. But Rajeev Malik, chief Asean economist at Jardine Fleming, points to the slack loan demand and plenty of liquidity as signs that Singapore rates may not move when U.S. rates rise.