<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sep 10, 2009
THARMAN AT 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF SGX:
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Double-dip risk <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Only cautious optimism as no sustainable sign of private spending recovery seen yet </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jessica Cheam
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'We have yet to see a firm or sustainable rebound in private spending that can underpin global economic growth in 2010 and beyond,' Mr Shanmugaratnam said.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SINGAPORE should prepare for the possibility of a sluggish world economy or even a double-dip recession next year, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam cautioned on Wednesday.
Improvements seen in the United States economy and around the world were mainly down to aggressive government stimulus packages and a correction in private sector inventories, he told those attending Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 10th anniversary celebration on Wednesday.
'We have yet to see a firm or sustainable rebound in private spending that can underpin global economic growth in 2010 and beyond,' he said. 'This is why we can only be cautiously optimistic about the next few years, globally and in Singapore.'
A double-dip recession - also known as W-shaped - refers to an economy pulled out of recession by a short period of growth, but which then slides back into negative growth.
Singapore's gross domestic product grew 20.7 per cent in the second quarter compared with the first, signalling a rebound in the economy after four consecutive quarters of decline. But the Government has forecast that the economy will still shrink by 4 to 6 per cent over the full year.
Mr Tharman said that although the asset management industry's portfolio declined in value by 26 per cent to $864 billion in 2008 from a year earlier, fund flows have resumed. In the first half of this year, the assets under management of the 20 largest asset managers in Singapore grew by 23 per cent. As well, the corporate debt market only shrank by 2 per cent to $168 billion last year.
At the event last night, the minister looked back on the decade since the SGX was formed by a merger of the Stock Exchange of Singapore and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange.
In that time, he noted, 'the SGX has seen through the ups and downs of a tumultuous decade in financial markets', but has grown tremendously and is today regarded as a serious international player.
From less than 500 listed firms in 2000, SGX has grown to include more than 760 firms on the mainboard and Catalist - 40 per cent of which hail from 20 countries outside Singapore.
Today, almost half of SGX's revenue is foreign-sourced, said Mr Tharman. Still, the firm must continually innovate to stay ahead of the game, he added.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times
[email protected]
THARMAN AT 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF SGX:
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Double-dip risk <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Only cautious optimism as no sustainable sign of private spending recovery seen yet </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jessica Cheam
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
'We have yet to see a firm or sustainable rebound in private spending that can underpin global economic growth in 2010 and beyond,' Mr Shanmugaratnam said.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SINGAPORE should prepare for the possibility of a sluggish world economy or even a double-dip recession next year, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam cautioned on Wednesday.
Improvements seen in the United States economy and around the world were mainly down to aggressive government stimulus packages and a correction in private sector inventories, he told those attending Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 10th anniversary celebration on Wednesday.
'We have yet to see a firm or sustainable rebound in private spending that can underpin global economic growth in 2010 and beyond,' he said. 'This is why we can only be cautiously optimistic about the next few years, globally and in Singapore.'
A double-dip recession - also known as W-shaped - refers to an economy pulled out of recession by a short period of growth, but which then slides back into negative growth.
Singapore's gross domestic product grew 20.7 per cent in the second quarter compared with the first, signalling a rebound in the economy after four consecutive quarters of decline. But the Government has forecast that the economy will still shrink by 4 to 6 per cent over the full year.
Mr Tharman said that although the asset management industry's portfolio declined in value by 26 per cent to $864 billion in 2008 from a year earlier, fund flows have resumed. In the first half of this year, the assets under management of the 20 largest asset managers in Singapore grew by 23 per cent. As well, the corporate debt market only shrank by 2 per cent to $168 billion last year.
At the event last night, the minister looked back on the decade since the SGX was formed by a merger of the Stock Exchange of Singapore and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange.
In that time, he noted, 'the SGX has seen through the ups and downs of a tumultuous decade in financial markets', but has grown tremendously and is today regarded as a serious international player.
From less than 500 listed firms in 2000, SGX has grown to include more than 760 firms on the mainboard and Catalist - 40 per cent of which hail from 20 countries outside Singapore.
Today, almost half of SGX's revenue is foreign-sourced, said Mr Tharman. Still, the firm must continually innovate to stay ahead of the game, he added.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times
[email protected]
