Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
© AFP Roslan Rahman
SINGAPORE (AFP) - "The outlook for this year remains bright. The external environment is stable, with our major trading and investment partners growing steadily," Lee said in his May Day messsage.
"For the full year, we expect to grow by 4.0-6.0 percent and we have a good chance of achieving growth nearer the upper end of the forecast," he said.
Singapore's economy got off to a strong start this year, growing 9.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to preliminary figures released last month.
Its key manufacturing sector, which accounts for one third of gross domestic product, grew a better-than-expected 25.2 percent, boosted by the biomedical and transport engineering industries.
The economy grew 6.4 percent in 2005.
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