S'pore narrows forecast

S'pore narrows forecast

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's deputy premier Lee Hsien Loong
said the island state, hit by an electronics slowdown, should
post economic growth at six to seven percent this year, narrowing
an earlier government forecast.

"Singapore's growth slowed down last year, mostly because of
the global electronics downturn. But we expect to make steady six
to seven percent growth this year and for the next few years,"
Lee said at a Singapore-British Business Council dinner Tuesday.

The electronics industry is the backbone of the city state's
manufacturing sector.

The global slowdown in electronics demand had pulled down
Singapore's crucial manufacturing output, resulting in economic
growth slowing down to seven percent in 1996 from 8.8 percent a
year earlier and 10.5 percent in 1994.

Lee's latest 1997 growth forecast is now closer to private
sector projections, which average about seven percent.