Economist, Centennial Asia Advisors

Jason Tan

Economist

Centennial Asia Advisors

At Centennial Asia Advisors, we tell it like it is. We have no vested interests, no need for a China wall, and no reason to skew our outlook any other way. With over 30 years experience covering Asia’s political economy, you can be sure our conclusions and analyses are based on the unadulterated facts. Through years of fine-tuning our research methodologies, we deliver a quality of macroeconomic analysis few other houses can match.

Centennial Asia Advisors is an independent research and advisory firm that works with governments, multilateral institutions, financial firms and leading MNCs.

Economic Policy and Strategic Advisors

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>The Singapore economy is in poor shape; advance estimates for 3Q16 revealed that economic growth slipped further. Key growth engines, manufacturing and services, have contracted while the construction sector is only propped up by public sector projects.</li><li>The labour market and property market are also manifestly weak. Bank lending is also faltering as business confidence ebbs away.</li><li>This means that concerted policy action is required to alleviate the economic funk. However, MAS stood pat on policy while remaining accommodative – monetary policy is indeed at its limit. Also, cooling measures imposed on the property market will not be lifted anytime soon.</li><li>The burden thus falls on fiscal policy – the only game in town. Large-scale public infrastructure works will likely be accelerated in an attempt to frontload fiscal stimulus and jumpstart economic growth.</li></ul>

The Singapore economy is in poor shape; advance estimates for 3Q16 revealed that economic growth slipped further. Key growth engines, manufacturing and services, have contracted while the construction sector is only propped up by public sector projects.The labour market and property market are also manifestly weak. Bank lending is also faltering as business confidence ebbs away.This means that concerted policy action is required to alleviate the economic funk. However, MAS stood pat on policy while remaining accommodative – monetary policy is indeed at its limit. Also, cooling measures imposed on the property market will not be lifted anytime soon.The burden thus falls on fiscal policy – the only game in town. Large-scale public infrastructure works will likely be accelerated in an attempt to frontload fiscal stimulus and jumpstart economic growth.

Singapore: Expect a Ramp-Up in Fiscal Policy